2024-03-11 20:56:00
The star continues to gain speed and get closer to the Sun. It thus becomes more and more brilliant, so much so that we can undoubtedly see it from Earth, using a small telescope or binoculars.
She is nicknamed “the devil’s comet” because of the two horns that form her hair. A comet three times the size of Everest is currently observable from our northern hemisphere. And this is a rare fact since the last time it showed up was in 1954, and its next visit to the edge of the Earth will not take place before 2095.
Indeed, 12P/Pons-Brooks travels its orbit every 71.3 years and it will reach its perihelion, that is to say its closest point to the Sun on April 21.
More and more brilliant
As reported The Guardian, scientists believe that it is a cryovolcanic comet and therefore that it emits dust, gas and ice when the pressure increases inside the comet under the effect of heat. So, as it approaches the Sun, it becomes more and more visible.
Furthermore, last year it experienced a burst of activity which made it a hundred times brighter. On February 29, the comet again experienced spectacular icy eruptions and is now even more easily identifiable.
However, scientists warn that you will need a small telescope or good binoculars to be able to see it well.
Get away from light pollution
To do this, you need to go to a place as spared as possible from light pollution, therefore far from cities, at the start of a night without clouds or mist and without too much light emanating from the moon. You then have to look towards the northwest.
To see the comet pass, you must locate the constellation Andromeda. In particular, you can use mobile applications which, by pointing the smartphone camera towards the sky, reveal the names of celestial objects. The Devil’s Comet will be above the constellation.
In particular, on March 31, 12P/Pons-Brooks will be only 0.5 degrees from the bright star called Hamal,” Paul Strøm, an astrophysicist at the University of Warwick, told the Guardian.
According to Nicolas Biver, president of the comet commission of the French Astronomical Society (SAF) and astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory, at Actu.fr “the week of March 11 to 17 will be very good” to observe this comet.
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