Philip Romanoff
An image of 7 300-second exposures of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks taken on the night of July 28, 2023 by a remote observatory (0.5 m reflector) located in the desert of Utah, North America. Note the comet's “horns.”
The “Devilish” comet, which has not visited the inner solar system in more than 70 years, may be visible to the naked eye within the next few weeks.
By name 12b/ponce brooksIt will reach its closest approach to the Sun on April 21, where it will be at its maximum brightness.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this periodic comet will likely have its best visibility between now and mid-April, although it won't be easy to spot.
Not amazingly bright As we see in his long exposure deep sky photographs. But it is visible to the naked eye, if the moon is not in the sky, in a place with little light pollution and clear skies. Without these good conditions, it is best to try observing through binoculars.
We can resort to Simple smartphonewith astronomical applications that show the locations of objects in the sky, or the celestial map we already have at our disposal.
The comet is small Diffuse gray spot It is currently near Hamal, which is the brightest star in the constellation Aries.
To see Comet Pons Brooks, observers must look near the horizon West and northwest after sunset. It completes its cycle every 71.3 years, so it will not be visible again until 2095.
Miguel Montes, Starry Night Pro Plus 8
Image showing the position of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the night sky on March 29, but with its daily path from March 27 to April 12. On March 30 and 31, it will be very close to the star Hamal of Carneiro. During April 11 and 12, the comet will also be very close to Jupiter from our planet's perspective (note that Jupiter's position on April 11 will not be exactly the same as the one in this image from April 29).
There is probably this dirty “snowball”. Its diameter is 34 km It was recognized as a comet in 1812. However, it was already observed in the 14th century.
She has a name French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons – who discovered it at the beginning of the nineteenth century – and the British-American astronomer William Robert BrooksWhich he observed in the next orbit in 1883.
Comet Pons Brooks rose Lots of interest and enthusiasm In recent months, partly due to some unusual properties.
Pictures show a The “strange” green color.This is because it contains a molecule called diatomic carbon (also known as di-carbon or Ctwo), which absorbs sunlight and radiates part of it in a distinctive green color.
Another interesting trait is its sometimes horn-like appearance, hence its nickname.Satan's comet“.
The reason these horny shapes appear is because the comet is cryovolcanic, meaning it regularly erupts and releases dust, gases and ice when the pressure inside it increases as it heats up.
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