Space continues to offer us splendid spectacles, and is now holding the attention of astronomers and amateur astronomers thanks to comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which immediately aroused great admiration for its very long “tail”. The celestial body is in a phase of its journey that is bringing it ever closer to the Earth.
The long journey
Comet 12P is one of those comets defined as “periodic”, since it moves in a regular orbit around the Sun and, every 71 years, concludes its orbital period, returning to its perihelion. The certainly more well-known Halley’s comet behaves in the same way. These are therefore celestial bodies that every now and then come close to the Sun, coming “to visit us”.
12P/Pons-Brooks was discovered on 12 July 1812 by astronomer Jean-Louis Pons. In 1883 it was then rediscovered by William Robert Brooks. From these two important characters she then obtained her name. It is a truly enchanting comet, which immediately won over astronomers for its incredible beauty. As explained by Virtul Telescope Project, the celestial body presents peaks of brightness which are commonly referred to as “outbursts” – as many as 10 have been recorded since last July. But it doesn’t end there. 12P/Pons-Brooks also has one very long tail really characteristic. Finally, experts define it as a cryovolcanic comet because it is capable of occasionally erupting a mixture of ice and gas called cryomagma.
“Right now there is a very beautiful comet crossing the night sky. It is 12P/Pons-Brooks, a so-called periodic comet. It means that it moves in an orbit around the Sun, which periodically brings it into the solar system internal to visit the king, the Sun. At the end of its orbital period, in this case every 71 years, it returns to its perihelion”he declared Gianluca Masidirector of Virtual Telescope Projectas reported by Tgcom24.
When to see it
Right now 12P/Pons-Brooks is reaching his perihelion, i.e. the closest point to the Sun. The expected date is April 21st. We will have to wait until June 2nd for it to arrive at its closest point to Earth. The experts at Virtual Telescope Project they hope to see it immortalized in the photos that will be taken during the solar eclipse scheduled for April 8th.
The comet is unfortunately not visible to the naked eye, however, by the end of the month and with favorable weather conditions, it should be appreciable with a telescope or good binoculars, observing thenorthern hemisphere. At the moment, the celestial body can be identified, after the setting of the Sun, in the low area of the horizon, to the north-west, where the constellation of Andromeda is located.