After 3.5M-year hiatus, largest comet ever discovered is headed our way | Hacker News Reader

After 3.5M-year hiatus, largest comet ever discovered is headed our way

livescience.com

61 pointsfortran7723 comments

> For starters, the enormous rock poses no threat to Earth. [...] The comet's closest approach to Earth will occur sometime in the year 2031, when scientists predict the comet will swoop within 10.97 AU of the sun — putting it just outside of Saturn's orbit,

This "for starters" is buried 6 paragraphs into the article.

Maybe change the title to “Heads toward our Solar System” or “Heads toward Saturn”?

Wow, I love how the title is practically crafted to incite terror and panic. "After millions of years of peace, your world will be ruined!"

The title didn't give me the sense that they were hyping a sensationalist earth-collision angle. The sub-title right at the top says the comet will strafe Saturn's orbit in 2031.

I still expected it to reach the inner solar system!

The sub-headline of the article says it too: "The gargantuan Bernardinelli-Bernstein comet will strafe Saturn's orbit in 2031. Scientists are stoked."

If anything were actually on a collision course with Earth, I can almost guarantee the headlines of every major news outlet would make it clear.

>If anything were actually on a collision course with Earth, I can almost guarantee the headlines of every major news outlet would make it clear.

A sure fire way to know if something is happening is when one of the 4 MSM channels start to deny that it is happening.

Kuiper belt nigh minor planetoid to slough off in outer solar system

Maybe someone will finally name this comet Ajax.

I'm more of a PSV person myself.

No but seriously, what does Ajax mean or refer to?

Comet and Ajax are competing powdered cleaning products.

I hope I get to see a comet with the naked eye before Halley’s next visit. I’ll be pretty old by then.

Just wait a couple of months:

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2021A1/2021A1.html

Nice. A magnitude of 4 isn’t super bright, but I’ll definitely try to check it out! Thanks.

Hale-Bopp was the best show of a comet I have seen. I have been excited and ultimately let down by some of the overhyped comments in the more recent past as the comets have not held together as they approached. I did get some shots of PanStarrs back in 2013, but it was nothing like Hale-Bopp. There have been some other comets recently, but sadly they have only been visible in the southern hemisphere.

Was this found by mere luck or do we have a warning system for objects heading our way?

We do try to find stuff heading our way. But a ton of objects are fully dark and wont be seen.

But yeah, uh, sleep well at night lol.

Clickbait warning.

Why is clickbait allowed on HN? I do not have the option to flag this submission for clickbait.

You need more karma for flag privs

Corrected title:

"After 3.5M-year hiatus, largest comet ever discovered is _not_ headed our way. It will get to a Saturn-like distance from the Sun though."

Another correction:

> a clear indication of an icy comet approaching the relatively warm inner solar system.

The solar system is mostly empty space, which is neither warm nor icy. The Sun warms things; but it doesn't warm objects at Saturn distance that much.

Disappointing, from a site with science in its name. Here's a longer and more in-depth coverage:

https://www.space.com/giant-comet-bernardinelli-bernstein-di...

When my friends text me to say they are "on their way" I don't exactly jump to the conclusion that they are literally going to ram my house with their car.

Well, when your friends are on their way, they are going to eventually be at your place, right? ... and unlike your friends, the comet doesn't park its car outside :-P

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