In the 34th part of the Mahābhārata series, the comet whose fragments hit the Earth and the Moon is identified. According to recent research on Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), which disintegrated into pieces 91 million miles away from the Sun, it was found to have originated from a parent comet that broke into two approximately 5000 years ago while turning around the Sun. One of these pieces returned in 1844, and the other in 2019, disintegrating at the Sun's aphelion—an event deemed impossible in nature.
Scientists analysing this phenomenon discovered that the
parent comet, visible from regions like India, broke up at that time. The
evidence for this event, recorded by Vyāsa, is found in the Mahābhārata: some
fragments of the breakup rushed towards the Earth and Moon, crashing onto both
on a Pushya day.
The 'second moon' that recently came near the Earth, found
to have been part of lunar ejecta, was very likely caused by this impact on the
lunar surface 5000 years ago. Unfortunately, no Mahābhārata researcher has been
able to grasp this connection beyond what they could discern from astronomy
simulators.
