Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks could become visible to naked eye this month
A comet that is larger than Mount Everest could become visible to the naked eye in the coming weeks as it continues its first visit to the inner solar system in more than 70 years, say astronomers.
The icy body is a Halley-type comet – meaning it will turn up once, or possibly twice, in a lifetime.
Indeed 12P/Pons-Brooks, as it is known, completes its orbit once every 71.3 years, and is due to make its closest approach to the sun on 21 April.
While some reports suggest 12P/Pons-Brooks was spotted as far back as the 14th century, it is named after the French astronomer Jean-Louis #Pons who discovered it in 1812 and the British-American astronomer William Robert #Brooks who observed it on its next orbit in 1883.
Thought to have a nucleus about 30km (20 miles) in diameter, it is classed as a #cryovolcanic #comet, meaning it erupts with dust, gases and ice when pressure builds inside as it is heated.
One such outburst last year caused it to brighten a hundredfold and garnered it the sobriquet of “the Devil Comet” after the haze that surrounds it formed a horned shape.
While the comet – and its #green #tinge – has already been spotted in the night sky, experts say it is expected to become even brighter in the coming weeks.
“The comet is expected to reach a magnitude of 4.5 which means it ought to be visible from a dark location in the UK,” said Dr Paul Strøm, an astrophysicist at the University of Warwick
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/11/larger-than-everest-comet-could-become-visible-to-naked-eye-this-month?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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