Comet with 'horns' hurtles toward Earth.

The comet that exploded to the size of a city, named 12P/Pons–Brooks, is approaching its closest point to Earth in its 71-year orbit through the solar system.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brook (12P) as seen in this photo taken on July 26. Photo: Comet Chasers/Richard Miles — Comet 12P/Pons-Brook (12P) as seen in this photo taken on July 26. Photo: *Comet Chasers/Richard Miles*

An unusual volcanic comet hurtling toward the Sun appears to have "grown horns" after exploding, causing it to shine like a small star and spew supercooled magma into space. This is the first time researchers have observed this comet erupting in nearly 70 years.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks (12P) is a cold volcanic comet. Like all comets, this icy celestial body consists of a solid core containing a mixture of ice, dust, and gas, surrounded by a cloud of gas called the comet's head. But unlike most comets, the gas and ice inside 12P's core accumulate to such an extent that it can explode violently, ejecting frigid material called icy magma through large cracks in the core's crust.

On July 20th, many astronomers detected a massive eruption from a comet, causing it to suddenly appear about 100 times brighter than usual, according to Spaceweather.com . This increase in brightness occurred when the comet's outer shell unexpectedly swelled due to gas and ice crystals released from within, allowing it to reflect more sunlight onto Earth.

On July 26, the massive comet's outer shell grew to a diameter of 230,000 km, more than 7,000 times wider than its core, which was originally 30 km in diameter, according to Richard Miles, a researcher at the British Astronomical Society and an expert on cold volcanic comets. Interestingly, the unusual shape of the expanding shell makes the comet look like it has horns. Other experts liken the deformed comet to the Millennium Falcon, one of the famous spacecraft from the Star Wars films.

The unusual shape of the comet's shell is most likely due to deformation in the core of 12P. The escaping gas may be partially trapped by the protrusions in the core, creating a V-shape in the shell. As the gas continues to travel away from the comet, the V-shape becomes more noticeable. But eventually, the expanding shell will disappear as the gas and ice become too dispersed to reflect sunlight.

According to Miles, this is the first major eruption detected from 12P in 69 years, mainly due to the comet's orbit keeping it too far from Earth to observe. 12P takes about 71 years to complete its orbit around the Sun. During that time, it is pushed to the farthest edge of the solar system. The comet will reach its closest point to the Sun on April 21, 2024, and its closest point to Earth on June 2, 2024, and may be visible to the naked eye in the night sky.

In addition to 12P, researchers have recorded several eruptions from 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (29P), the most volatile volcanic comet in the Solar System, in recent years. In December 2022, astronomers witnessed the largest eruption from 29P in 12 years, spewing approximately one million tons of cold magma into space.

An Khang (According to Live Science )

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