'Demon Comet' Rushes Towards Earth, Explodes and Grows Horns

The explosion came not far from Halloween and its bizarre shape led scientists to nickname 12P/Pons-Brooks the "demon comet."

It is a 71-year comet, on its way to its closest approach to the Sun after decades of absence.

"Devil Comet" 2P/Pons-Brooks after exploding. (Photo: Eliot Herman)

This journey will take it past Earth with its closest approach to the Sun occurring on April 21, 2024, and its closest approach to Earth occurring on June 2, 2024.

With its "unique" nature, this comet has continuously exploded in mid-July and early October.

It is an "ice volcano" comet, with a core consisting of a hard, icy shell filled with ice, gas, and dust. Surrounding the core is a hazy cloud called the coma, which is made up of material leaking from the core.

Unlike other types of comets, "volcanic" comets will have their cores heated up as they approach the Sun, causing pressure to build up.

When the pressure is strong enough, the core's crust cracks open and sprays its icy guts everywhere, causing it to glow brightly as the suddenly expanding coma reflects more sunlight back toward Earth.

12P/Pons-Brooks has been known to erupt with extreme violence, including the July 20 eruption that was examined in detail. It was the first outburst from this “demon comet” in 69 years of quiet, and caused the coma to expand more than 7,000 times the size of the nucleus.

The second outburst was larger but has not been fully calculated. Both caused the comet to grow horns after the flare faded.

According to astronomer Richard Miles from the British Astronomical Association (BAA), the "devil's face" shape of the coma may be due to the comet's nucleus itself, causing the gas to escape more strongly in some places, creating two horns.

According to amateur astronomer Eliot Herman, who observed both outbursts, the second outburst made the comet 100 times brighter than usual.

Meanwhile, the third outburst lasted from Halloween until the following day, resulting in a horned demon-shaped glowing ball approaching Earth throughout the first days of November as a "Halloween" prank.

(Source: Lao Dong Newspaper)

Source: https://vtc.vn/sao-choi-quy-lao-ve-phia-trai-dat-bung-no-va-moc-sung-ar832708.html