An unusual horned comet notable for a series of outbursts, nicknamed the “devil comet,” will make its closest approach of Earth on Sunday around 3 a.m. ET.
While the comet hasn’t been visible to those in the Northern Hemisphere since the first week of May, sky-gazers in the Southern Hemisphere have a better chance of glimpsing the fuzzy object through binoculars or a telescope.
Exactly why the dynamic comet takes on a shape that has drawn comparisons to the Millennium Falcon spacecraft from the “Star Wars” films when explosively active is still an enigma to scientists.
But the celestial object only completes one orbit around the sun about every 71 years, similar to Halley’s comet, which make the odds of observing it for close study a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Given that the comet won’t pass by Earth again for decades, collective observations by astronomers could provide key insights into its true nature and behavior.
Officially known as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, the celestial object made its closest pass of the sun on April 21, coming within 74.4 million miles (119.7 million kilometers) of our star.
The comet will make its closest pass of Earth on Sunday, but it will be more than 143 million miles (230 million kilometers) away from our planet and won’t pose a risk. For reference, the sun is 93 million miles (149 million kilometers) away from Earth.
The comet peaked in brightness in late April and has been steadily fading for three to four weeks, said Dr. Dave Schleicher, astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona.
“For folks down below the equator, the coming weeks and months might be their first good chance to see this thing since the 1950s,” said astronomer Dr. Teddy Kareta, a postdoctoral associate at Lowell.
Two prolific discoverers, Jean-Louis Pons and William Robert Brooks, independently observed the devil comet — Pons in 1812 and Brooks in 1883.
But the comet has likely made many trips around the sun over thousands of years, long before astronomers thought of comets as anything other than “something weird in the atmosphere,” Schleicher said.
Astronomers estimate the massive comet to be between 6.2 to 12.4 miles (10 to 20 kilometers) in diameter, Kareta said.
The rare visitor has a green appearance typical of most comets because they contain diatomic carbon molecules that absorb sunlight and emit a color that appears green from our perspective, Schleicher said.
Pons-Brooks recently captured the attention of astronomers after exhibiting intriguing behavior that caused the comet to have a horned appearance and soar through our solar system.
The comet has experienced a number of outbursts during the past eight months, causing it to eject gas and dust. While such releases are not uncommon in comets and a crescent or Pac-Man shape has been observed in other ones, it’s difficult to tell what is normal for Pons-Brooks.
“I would say it’s somewhat unusual in the number of outbursts it’s been having,” Schleicher said. “On the other hand, it’s not like you have good records from the past to really let you know what is typical.
And I suspect given the fairly large number of outbursts that have happened over the last eight months, that this is very clearly a usual occurrence for Pons-Brooks.”
Comets are chunks of dust, rock and ice, essentially frozen remnants from the formation of the solar system. They also contain frozen elements such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
Comets heat up and brighten as they approach the sun, and some of the frozen gases stored in comets don’t need to warm up much before they begin to turn into vapor, Schleicher said.
