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Towards the end of the month, Comet Pons-Brooks will move along the line of brighter stars in Aries, approximately in the direction of Jupiter. It may brighten towards the end of the month, reaching naked-eye visibility if you find a dark spot on a clear enough night.
“In particular, on the 31 March 12P/Pons–Brooks will be only 0.5 degrees from the bright star called Hamal, equivalent to a full moon diameter away,” which should make it easier to spot, Strøm says.
Why is it called a 'devil' comet?
Pons-Brooks is what’s known as a cryovolcanic comet, meaning that every so often it randomly erupts (like a volcano), spewing out dust, gas and ice into the surrounding space. When it did this last year, it instantaneously became 100 times brighter, with the outburst forming a devil-horned shape – hence the name.
The reason this bizarre eruption occurs is that as the comet gets closer to the Sun, it warms up, meaning that the icy material can vaporise and rupture out from beneath the surface as the pressure builds.
The gas then forms part of the bright coma, which is the halo of evaporated material that surrounds the solid nucleus.
www.sciencefocus.com...
Heading for its next perihelion passage on April 21, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter. The greenish coma of this periodic Halley-type comet has become relatively easy to observe in small telescopes. But the bluish ion tail now streaming from the active comet's coma and buffeted by the solar wind, is faint and difficult to follow. Still, in this image stacked exposures made on the night of February 11 reveal the fainter tail's detailed structures. The frame spans over two degrees across a background of faint stars and background galaxies toward the northern constellation Lacerta
apod.nasa.gov...
In truth, they all can be rightfully called cometships
originally posted by: SchrodingersRat
a reply to: CosmicFocus
In truth, they all can be rightfully called cometships
Interesting.
Ships carrying what exactly?
And why go to that area?
originally posted by: CosmicFocus
a reply to: SchrodingersRat
Ship usually carry occupants or materials.
...And "WHY?"
What is a human's favorite pastime even when cruising the internet?
Exploring, conquest, and occasionally, raping and pillaging.
originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: gortex
Just caught it with my Celestron Binoculars!
It’s dark up here in Northern Ontario.
I’m in a very isolated city. Closest next major city is 9 hours away in another province.
So very minimal light pollution up here.
Looks like a faint greenish blue blob with a very dim star in it right now.