Skywatchers looking forward to the April 8 total solar eclipse may get a chance to see a rare and massive comet with a particularly devilish nickname.
12P/Pons-Brooks has been nicknamed the “Devil Comet,” due to the presence of two “horns,” that are made up of ice and gas that periodically explode. It’s known as a periodic comet, sweeping by the Earth every 71 years. It’s massive, a giant space rock roughly the same size as Mt. Everest.
NASA said the bright comet will be visible during the eclipse due to the unusual coincidence that the comet’s return to the inner solar system places it by chance only 25 degrees away from the sun during the Earth’s April 8 total solar eclipse.
Currently, the comet is just on the edge of visibility to the unaided eye, best visible with binoculars in the early evening sky towards Pisces, the constellation of the fish, NASA said. It’s putting on quite a show, however, with a light blue tail, outer coma in green and highlights of glowing red gas around the coma in a spiral. How well it will be visible on April 8 remains to be seen, scientists said, though the darkness of the mid-day eclipse will help.
“Although it is always difficult to predict the future brightness of comets, Comet Pons-Brook has been particularly prone to outbursts, making it even more difficult to predict how bright it will actually be as the Moon moves in front of the Sun on April 8,” NASA said.
The best visibility for both the eclipse and the comet will be along the path of totality. The eclipse will start in Mexico and move across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine before heading out over the North Atlantic. Small portions of Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee will also experience almost the entirety of the eclipse. You can go here to see a map of the eclipse.
The devil comet will reach its closest point to the sun and be shining the brightest on April 21. It will be closest to the Earth on June 2.
Story by Leada Gore, Advance Local Media. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
