A massive comet the size of Mount Everest is swinging by the Earth's neighborhood for the first time in nearly a century in the next few weeks, and may even be visible to the naked eye.
The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks, is often referred to as a "devil" comet due to horn-shaped explosions of ice and gas that were spotted on its surface last year.
Where To See Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
12P/Pons-Brooks is due to approach its closest point to the sun on April 21, appearing brightest in the skies in the weeks close to that date.
It will approach its closest point to Earth on June 2, skimming past us at a distance of around 144 million miles, or about 1.5 times the distance between the Earth and the sun.
12P/Pons-Brooks is a periodic comet: it regularly orbits the sun, visiting the inner solar system once every 70 or so years. It was discovered independently in July 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons and then again in 1883 by William Robert Brooks and is named after them. The last time this comet came close to the sun was in 1954, and it won't approach at this proximity again until 2095.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is currently in the constellation of Pisces and will move through Aries over the next few weeks. On April 21, it will appear in the constellation of Taurus and will be best visible in the evenings from the northern hemisphere where it will appear close to the west-north-west horizon.
How To Watch Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
During April, the comet is due to get brighter and brighter as it approaches the sun, possibly reaching a magnitude of +4.1 by April 21. The smaller or more negative a magnitude, the brighter the object: the full moon peaks at -13, while the sun has a magnitude of -27. Some of the brightest stars in the sky, Sirius and Antares, have magnitudes of -1 and +1 respectively, with objects of +6 or lower visible to the naked eye.
"Don't expect it to be dazzlingly bright—the kind of image you see in photographs. It's not going to be like that," Robert Massey, deputy executive director at the Royal Astronomical Society, U.K., said in a video. "This is something that might just be visible to the naked eye if you don't have a Moon in the sky, if there's no light pollution and if the weather is really clear, then you might stand a chance.
"But for most of us, we're going to need to pick up a pair of binoculars," he warned.
Due to the evenings getting lighter throughout April, the comet may be best observed at the beginning of the month. Due to the comet's proximity to the sun, it may be visible during the April 8 solar eclipse in the U.S.
"Ideally, look at one of the apps you can get on your phone, showing you where things are in the sky, or a finder chart of some kind. That'll really help you to track it down," Massey said.
"And when you see it, it's likely to look like a sort of small, greyish fuzz, quite typical for many comets," he said. "But you will have the satisfaction of knowing you've seen this once-in-a-lifetime object."
Like many comets, 12P/Pons-Brooks is believed to be composed of dust, ice, and rocky material. When it approaches the sun, the heat causes the ice to sublimate, releasing gas and dust which form a visible coma (the comet's atmosphere) and often a tail pointing away from the sun due to solar wind.
The comet is about 21 miles in diameter and has been an object of interest in recent years due to it having some weird and wonderful properties. First, the comet appeared a strange green shade to those observing its far-off approach.
"That's because it has a molecule called dicarbon," Massey said. "It absorbs sunlight and re-radiates some of it with that characteristic green tinge."
An explosive outburst from a cryovolcano in July 2023 resulted in two streams of gas and dust emerging from the comet, giving the impression of it having two horns, somewhat resembling the Millennium Falcon. These horns are the reason for the comet's nickname being the devil comet.
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Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. ... Read more
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