A COMET fired off explosions causing it to take on a unique shape and catch the attention of astronomers months before it’s expected to get closest to the sun.
The comet known as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, abruptly brightened on July 20, as it shed tons of debris and ice causing it to reform – now dubbed to look like the Millennium Falcon spaceship from Star Wars.
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The Millennium Falcon reference comes due to it becoming shaped like a horseshoe after ridding of the debris, making it a “once in a lifetime” spotting, Business Insider reported.
It is believed that the comet released billions of pounds of dust and ice into space, according to Carrie Holt of the University of Maryland, per Scientific American.
It orbits the sun every 71 years and will be traveling on its closest path on April 21, 2024, and brightest in Earth’s night sky on June 2, 2024.
The closer it is to the sun, the more visible it is from Earth.
The comet can currently be seen with a telescope, but when it gets close to the sun next year, you will be able to see it with the naked eye in the night sky.
It will be so visible because it is predicted to reach a brightness magnitude of +4.7.
“At the moment it is only really visible with a telescope at a nice dark site,” Dr Edward Gomez of the Las Cumbres Observatory in Cardiff, Wales told Insider.
“But around the time of the eclipse next April, it will be bright enough to easily find with a pair of binoculars from your back garden, even if you live in the suburbs.”
The comet event will also be extra special as it will be occurring just weeks after North America’s total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.
“It’s once-in-a-blue-moon that you see a comet next to an eclipsed sun,” Richard Miles of the British Astronomical Association told Insider.
It is currently unclear why the brightness of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks drastically increased within the past few weeks.
Some scientists believe it could be due to an active ice volcano or liquid inside the comet, per Insider.
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