Comet Elenin is Coming!

Comet Elenin is Coming!

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 12:57 CST

Laura Knight Jadczyk

Sott.net

One of the members of our research team is an astronomer at a large
observatory. We've been having a number of exchanges about the theories
of James McCanney. Unfortunately, I can't find any really good videos of
McCanney talking about his ideas. I did find the following which are
basically just audio with minimal graphics. They do explain his ideas so
have a listen before you continue on. If anybody has links to better
videos, please let me know!

Okay, now you know a bit about the possibilities of comets as
parts of the Electric Solar System. McCanney cites all the strange
weather on earth, strange behavior of the sun, that arrived in tandem
with Comet Hale-Bopp. So now along comes Comet Elenin. Let's start with
the likely trajectory. On the image, which came from my astronomer
friend, it looks like this:

© SOTT.net

E - Earth




W - Venus




M - Mars




The little black curved line represents Mercury.




Hopefully, it should be visible somewhere around mid-August. Its closest
approach to the Sun is scheduled in the first half of September. Where
it will go exactly - we do not know. Since its orbit is close to the
ecliptic plane, it should be visible low in the sky. Orbital parameters
are yet uncertain. So far it looks harmless:

© Leonid Elenin

SpeedN-NM
Comet Elenin (C/2010 X1) appears as a tiny, faint smudge in this stack
of four 240-second exposures taken on the morning of December 10, 2010,
with a remote-controlled telescope in New Mexico. (The quadrupled stars
are due to the comet's motion between exposures.)

It
is called Elenin since it was discovered by Leonid Elenin. I expect the
internet to soon be ringing with rumors and news bytes about this comet.
For now, there isn't much to say so I'm sharing what I've received in
private from an astronomer at a big observatory that shall remain
anonymous for the moment. He says:

1. It is too early to accurately predict the future path - it's orbital parameters haven't been revised.




2. Among the observable hyperbolic and parabolic comets (those that
   come from the Oort cloud) this one has the smallest perihelion distance
   and the smallest inclination to the ecliptic plane.




3. Comet Elenin's orbit may be unstable as it may encounter some
   dark bodies, for example, in the asteroid belt or even some Taurid
   objects. What would happen in those cases is a matter of luck.




4. This comet may carry a significant amount of material with it
   and if it follows the currently projected orbit, the Earth may very well
   pass through this material.




5. If Elenin is anything like what Victor Clube or James McCanney
   describes, we might be in for some surprises - good or bad, who knows?

For comparison a picture with some of the known comets:

© SOTT.net

For those interested: Ephemerides of the comet C/2010 X1 Elenin




Currently, according to Nasa, the predicted trajectory can be viewed here.




Elenin's predicted brightness:

Where to look:

Interview with the discoverer:




Comets could pose a serious threat (Google Translation)




("Comets may represent a serious danger")

Elenin's telescope

Comet Elenin Update!




I've received updates on Comet Elenin from the astronomical insider who shall, as I said, remain anonymous for the moment.




The first item of note is that, with the update on the orbit of Elenin,
which was made on 09 Jan 11, that is 9-1-11 (interesting, no?), it is
scheduled to reach perihelion on the 9th of September, that is: 9-9-11.
Another interesting numerical combo.




My friend has made a nice little animation of the calculated orbit:

An interesting alignment occurs right around the autumnal equinox where
we have Earth, Comet Elenin, the Sun and almost Mercury lined up like
ducks.




Now, have a look at this image:

I
hope you can make out the yellow line of Elenin's orbit. (Click on the
image to enlarge it) In the image, Astronomical Insider has included the
position of the asteroid belt as a big circle. He has also noted the
position of the member of that belt, Schiela, which is the asteroid that
began to develop a comet-like coma back in December. The blue ellipse
is an approximation of the southern Taurid meteor stream. Something may
change, of course, when the comet crosses the asteroid belt in
March/April.




Stay tuned for updates!