The cryovolcanic comet called 12P/Pons–Brooks, which is expected to make its closes approach to Earth next year has re-grown its distinctive “horns” after undergoing its second major eruption in four months.
For the second time in four months, a massive volcanic comet the size of a metropolis has erupted violently as it approaches the sun. Like the last eruption, it released a cloud of ice and gas that resembled a massive set of horns.
The comet, known as 12P/Pons-Brooks, is a cold volcano comet, also known as a cryovolcanic comet. The comet’s solid nucleus, which is thought to be 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) in diameter, is home to cryomagma, a mixture of ice, gas, and dust.
A hazy cloud of gas called a coma has encircled the nucleus and is leaking out of the comet’s innards. As solar radiation heats the comet’s inside, pressure builds up inside the comet and it explodes violently, releasing its icy interior into space via the nucleus’s shell fractures.
The comet became a dozen times brighter due to additional light reflecting from its expanding coma, and on October 5 astronomers observed a massive outburst from 12P, according to the British Astronomical Association (BAA), which has been constantly monitoring the comet.
The comet’s coma continued to grow during the following few days, forming its “peculiar horns,” according to Spaceweather.com. A small number of specialists claimed that the coma’s asymmetrical shape gave it the appearance of a science fiction spacecraft, like Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon.
2095 could see the comet return to Earth.
After the comet’s last explosion, BAA astronomer Richard Miles told Live Science that the coma’s peculiar shape was most likely caused by an imperfection in the nucleus of 12P.
According to Miles, it is quite probable that a protruding notch on the nucleus is partially blocking the gas that is being released. He continued by saying that the irregularity in the coma’s shape becomes more pronounced and obvious as the gas has been extending away from the comet.
As of right now, comet 12P is speeding toward the inner region of the solar system, where it will slingshot on the sun’s very elliptical 71-year orbit. On September 17, green comet Nishimura performed an almost identical maneuver.
When 12P reaches its closest point to Earth on April 21, 2024, it is probably going to be visible to the unaided eye before launching itself back out into space. It’s unlikely that the comet will reappear until 2095.