Comet that passes Earth once every 71 years now visible in night sky
Binoculars or small telescopes can see a 71-year-anniversary comet. Astronomers think 12P/Pons-Brooks is brightening and may be visible to the naked eye in weeks.
Its brightness has increased because to several activity bursts, according to University of Central Lancashire astrophysicist Megan Argo.
She continued, “If we're lucky, it may have another in the next few weeks as it passes through the sky.” Comets are dust, rock, and ice.
“You can think of them as a bit like giant dirty snowballs.”12P/Pons-Brooks, discovered by Jean-Louis Pons and William Robert Brooks, returns every 71 years.
Dr. Argo says sublimation melts the ice to gas when the comet approaches the Sun, causing some material to fall off.
She said: “This gas forms a cloud around the comet's solid nucleus, called the coma, and a millions-mile tail.
The Sun's solar wind pushes gas and dust away from the comet, creating a beautiful tail from Earth. View the comet below and left of Andromeda.