A massive cryovolcanic comet named 12P/Pons-Brooks similar to a small city in size experienced its second major eruption in four months as it made its way towards the sun. These eruptions seemed like a gigantic pair of horns accompanied by the emission of cloud of ice and gas.
12P/Pons-Brooks is a cryovolcanic comet commonly known as cold volcano with a solid nucleus approximately 30 kilometres in diameter, comprising a mixture of ice, dust and gas called cryomagma. A fuzzy cloud of gas called a coma surrounds the nucleus that leaks out of the comet’s interior.
The eruptions occur when solar radiation heats the comet’s core, leading to increased pressure and violent explosions that shoots icy material into space through large cracks in the nucleus’s shell.
According to the British Astronomical Association (BAA), astronomers detected an outburst from 12P on October 5, as it became significantly brighter due to the enhanced reflection of light from its expanded coma. Over the following days, the coma expanded further and formed its distinct “horns” as reported by Spaceweather.com.
According to a BAA astronomer, Richard Miles the peculiar comet’s coma shape has been attributed to irregularities in the nucleus reported Live Science following the comet’s previous eruption. As gas flows away from the comet, it interacts with protrusions on the nucleus, shaping the coma in unique and noticeable ways.
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Currently, 12P is moving towards the inner solar system, with its closest approach to Earth scheduled for April 21, 2024. It will be visible to the naked eye before being propelled to the outer solar system and will not to be seen again until 2095.
This marks the second occasion in the same year that 12P has exhibited such eruptions. Last eruption took place on July 20 when the comet blow its top for the first time in 69 years. The BAA revealed that the latest outburst was even more intense than the previous one. Spaceweather.com suggested the possibility of larger eruptions in the future as the comet absorbs more solar radiation.
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Updated: 19 Oct 2023, 09:54 AM IST