A massive comet that is approaching Earth will become visible in 2024 when it reaches its closest point to the sun. During its journey, the comet has experienced two outbursts in just four months, according to the British Astronomy Association (BAA).
Known as 12P/Pons-Brooks, the comet has undergone sudden “outbursts” of dust and gas as it travels towards Earth. Astronomers have noted that the comet now resembles the Millennium Falcon or a figure with horns.
Richard Miles of the BAA, quoted by CBS News, described the comet as being approximately 18 to 25 miles in diameter and enveloped in a largely tenuous cloud of dust and gas.
Reports of the comet’s outbursts are based on observations from several telescopes, including the Faulkes Telescope North in Maui. According to the BAA, the comet experienced two outbursts in July and October.
What does the comet look like after the outbursts? Spaceweather.com notes that during the July outburst, the comet resembled the Millennium Falcon as it burst out of debris, taking on the shape of the spacecraft. Other observers saw the pointed beams of light emerging from the comet’s rounded form as resembling devil horns.
Comet outbursts are relatively rare, occurring only about 3-4% of the time. During these events, ejected particles move away from the nucleus, or the comet’s core, and gradually disperse.
In the case of 12P/Pons Brooks, the comet’s sizable nucleus casts a shadow over the cloud of gas and dust from the outburst, creating a distinctive hollowed-out shape and horn-like features. As Richard Miles explained to CBS News, the entire outburst coma appears somewhat like the Millennium Falcon spaceship.
The comet has also been described as “Halley-like,” a term coined by Miles to categorize comets with long elliptical orbits around the sun, taking them between 20 and 200 years to complete one orbit. However, there is a slight distinction between Halley and Pons Brooks: Halley has an orbital period of 76 years, while Pons Brooks has an orbital period of 71 years.
When will the “Devil Comet” be visible? The comet is set to pass closest to the sun around April 21 and will reach its closest point to Earth on June 2, as stated by Richard Miles. It may become visible as it gets closer to the sun.
Although NASA has labeled 12P/Pons-Brooks as a “near-Earth comet,” Miles clarified that it is about 70 times farther from Earth than the moon. Therefore, any possibility of a collision with Earth is entirely ruled out.
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