[Four images of comet Pons-Brooks taken with different filters. Image courtesy of Comet Chasers Education and Outreach Project. Observers: Mirjana Malaric (Zagreb, Croatia) and Jose Manuel Perez Redondo (Institut d'Alcarràs, Catalonia) and their students using the Faulkes Telescope North.]
Washington: A "horned" comet of the size of a small city which has become brighter and developed after a recent explosion is – though slowly – on its way to approaching Earth.
The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks, is a cryovolcanic comet and classified as a cold volcano comet. The comet measures a colossal 18.6 miles (30 kilometres) in diameter, and it erupted on October 5, 2023, according to Live Science.
This is the second time Pons-Brooks erupted in the last four months, with the last celestial event occurring in July this year.
The British Astronomical Association (BAA), which has been closely monitoring Pons-Brooks or 12P, detected the explosion after noticing that it appeared dozens of times brighter due to the light reflected by its coma - the cloud gas surrounding its centre.
12P/Pons-Brooks or just 12P - first discovered by Jean-Louis Pons on July 12, 1812 - is slightly different compared to other comets as its interior mixture has the chance to explode violently, which causes its frozen insides, or cryomagma, to leak out of the nucleus's shell, according to Space.com.
Such an explosion was first detected by astronomers on July 20, 2023 when 12P/Pons-Brooks suddenly became 100 times brighter than it usually appears to be. This increase in brightness can be attributed to a swelling of gas around the comet, which reflected more sunlight.
On July 26, the coma of 12P/Pons-Brooks stretched some 143,000 miles, or 7,000 times wide than the comet's nucleus, which is estimated to be about 18.6 miles across.
12P or Pons-Brooks, known for its regular explosions, had explosive burst for second time on October 05 this year. After the latest explosion, 12P has taken an odd shape and also developed horns that make it look-like Pac-Man or Millennium Falcon.
The cause of the horns is unclear, however, experts believe that it could be caused by the shape of 12P's nucleus.
"The two 'horns' may be caused by a peculiarly-shaped cryovolcanic vent with some sort of blockage causing the material to be expelled with a weird flow pattern," said Richard Miles of the British Astronomical Association, as per the New York Post.
Unlike other comets that are not as bright as 12P and require a telescope for the skywatchers to see, 12P will be visible with naked eyes if it approaches its closest point to Earth in 2024. And, if indeed is spotted by skygazers, then 2024 could be known as the year of the two comets.
The comet, one of 20 known comets with active ice volcanoes, will then be catapulted back into the solar system, and won't make its cosmic comeback tour until the year 2095.
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