2014 UN271

In news- Astronomers have discovered a new object, bigger than a comet, on the outskirts of the Solar System and is coming near us.

Key updates-

The object is likely to make a close pass by the Sun, bringing it into Saturn’s orbit in 2031.
The object was observed in data from the Dark Energy Survey conducted between 2014 and 2018.
Estimated to be between 100 to 370 kilometres in width, the object is bigger than the normal specification of a comet and is likely to be a dwarf planet.
When first observed in 2014, the mega comet was about 29 Astronomical Units (AU) away from the Sun.
Since then, the 2014 UN271 has travelled nearly 7 AU and is now nearly 22 AU away from the Sun.
This distance brings it closer to us than Neptune.
At its closest approach to planets in our Solar System, it is expected to pass by just 10.9 AU of the Sun, almost reaching the orbit of Saturn.
The massive orbit of this mega comet extends between the inner solar system and the Oort cloud on the boundary of interstellar space spanning around 6,12,190 years.
Interstellar space is the region beyond the heliosphere where the Sun’s influence wanes and solar winds slow down.
Astronomers expect that before it reaches Saturn and gets closer and closer to the Sun, the object will develop the typical characteristics of a comet that includes a tail, and the coma formed as the material on the surface evaporates from the heat and radiation of the Sun.
In 2017, a cigar-shaped object named ‘Oumuamua‘, which means “visitor from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian, was the first visitor from interstellar space to be detected by Earth.