It’s funny, guilty. It lands one day in our skies, and by the time we humans can see its tail, it disappears into the depths of the universe. Without leaving a return address or date. It will be in 10, 100, 1000, or 10,000 years… So, if there is a celestial body that brilliantly illustrates an unexpected subject chosen for the thirteenth edition of the Night of the Scholars, it is indeed comets, of which Sarah Anderson is a specialist.

This wealthy 27-year-old researcher from the Uttenham Institute in Besançon is preparing to defend her thesis about a comet, a comet that appears to have been taken from an episode of Star Trek: C2016R2 Panstarrs. “Whereas most comets are composed primarily of ice,” she explains. “This is mostly carbon monoxide.”

Solar System Fossils

For the first unexpected time for an astrophysicist, who has been studying for three years this flying object was identified in 2016 (hence its name) which, in 2018, approached Earth (at a distance of 300 million km anyway) before shooting at reverence him. “We’ll see him again in about 20,000 years…” Or not!

Because, another unexpected event, a beauty that had until then been walking straight through intergalactic space at a rate of 50 km/s suddenly changed course as it approached Jupiter. Therefore, it is difficult for the researcher to draw diagrams of the comet. Difficult but not impossible. Because Sarah intends, along with a community of about a dozen other astrophysicists in the world, to reveal her secrets. Comets are fossils of the solar system. To get to know them better is to learn more about the composition of our universe.”

Sarah Anderson is also inexhaustible on asteroids, and other objects from space, but they likely fall on our heads. As in “Don’t Look For”, the film by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, which the researcher considers “credible.”

A notable person is the scientist of Besançon on the staff of the 13th Scholar’s Night, which will take place Friday from 7 pm to 11 pm at the Musée du Temps. More than forty specialists, from all disciplines, will explain the topic of the unexpected in a playful way to the general public. So, if there’s one thing you can plan for, it’s tonight!

free entry. www.besancon.nuitchercheurs.eu