Comet Pons-Brooks could be seen by the naked eye as gases underneath the surface cause the giant ice object to intensify in brightness as it approaches the Sun.
Sky watchers may get a once-or maybe twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a comet brighten and dim, while appearing as if it has a pair of devil horns attached, as it makes its approach toward the Sun.
said the Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is racing toward its closest approach to the sun on its 71-year-long orbit. The orbit takes it as far away as the orbit of Neptune and as close as the orbit of Venus. But because the orbit is tilted, the space agency said there is no chance of a collision with Earth. The comet is about 18 miles in diameter and has been observed numerous times over the course of hundreds of years, most notably because of its outbursts of gas. According to Space.
said bursts of gas and dust get released from beneath the surface of the comet, causing the object to brighten. As the comet nears between March and April, the outbursts of gas could cause the comet to brighten so much it can be seen with the naked eye under dark skies, particularly by the end of March. In an image posted to
’s astronomy picture of the day page, Comet Pons-Brooks appears to have a light blue tail, a green outer coma, and a spiral of red glowing gas surrounding the coma. Astronomers said the spiral could be caused by gas getting expelled by a slow-rotating nucleus of the comet. The space agency said those hoping to get a glimpse of the comet should be able to find it low in the west-northwest part of the sky at the end of evening twilight, near the constellation Pisces. Another unusual coincidence puts the comet about 25 degrees from the Sun during the April 8 total solar eclipse, though it is unclear how bright it will appear to sky watchers that day, when the Moon blocks the Sun.
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Watch 'horned' comet 12P/Pons-Brooks zoom past the Andromeda Galaxy live today (video)Harry is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science. He studied Marine Biology at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus) and after graduating started his own blog site 'Marine Madness,' which he continues to run with other ocean enthusiasts.
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