According to Live Science, 12P/Pons - Brooks attracted attention because of the strange horn-like things growing on its giant "body".
On July 20, a massive explosion blew these horns away. The explosion, in the form of an “ice volcano,” was so powerful that its coma expanded to 230,000 kilometers across, 7,000 times wider than the comet’s nucleus.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. (Photo: Comet Chasers/Richard Miles)
The coma, also known as the "comet head," is the beautiful halo that surrounds comets as they approach the Sun, causing the comet's cold material to sublimate.
In observational data in October 2023, another "ice volcano" eruption continued to be recorded by the British Astronomical Association (BAA), an event that made the comet dozens of times brighter than usual.
Over the next few days, its coma continued to expand and a new pair of strange horns continued to grow, according to Spaceweather.com.
Some experts joke that the comet's unusual shape makes it look like a spaceship from a science fiction movie, such as the Millennium Falcon from "Star Wars."
According to astronomer Richard Miles from BAA, the unusual shape of the coma may be due to the comet's nucleus itself, causing gas to escape unevenly in some areas.
12P/Pons-Brooks is hurtling toward the inner solar system, in a 71-year elliptical orbit around our parent star.
12P/Pons-Brooks will make its closest approach to Earth on April 21, 2024. With its brightness and enormous size, it will be visible to the naked eye. It won't visit us again until 2095.
(Source: Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper/Spaceweather.com.)
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