Comet Elenin , the last to visit our inner solar system, will pass 35 million kilometers from Earth – that is, more than 90 times the distance that separates us from the Moon – during its closest approach to our planet, which will take place on October 16, 2011, so it will pose no threat. The celestial body, also known by its astronomical name C / 2010 X1 , is a "dirty and rather small ball of ice", according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and was detected for the first time on 10 December 2010 from an observatory in New Mexico (USA).
Despite much speculation about the "disastrous" effects of Comet Elenin's approach, its influence on Earth will be negligible, as it will not even have an effect on tides or plate tectonic movements . Nor is it expected to come close to any celestial body that would disturb its orbit.
Almost all the comets that approach the Earth have their origin in the Kuiper belt , a remote region of the solar system, densely populated by asteroids and smaller bodies. In this region of space is the aphelion of most asteroids and comets, that is, the point furthest from their orbit.
