KOMPAS.com – A comet three times the size of Mount Everest has exploded in space and is currently heading towards Earth.
Quoted from NewYorkPost, the comet was named 12P/Pons-Brooks and exploded on October 5 2023.
12P/Pons-Brooks is a cryovolcanic comet that has a colossal diameter of 19.6 miles or about 315 kilometers and is comparable to the size of a small city.
For comparison, Mount Everest is 5.5 miles high or about 88.5 kilometers.
First discovered by Jean-Louis Pons on July 12, 1812, this comet was reportedly one of 20 comets known to have active icebergs.
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Explosion process
The British Astronomical Association monitored 12P/Pons-Brooks and noticed the explosion appeared tens of times brighter due to light reflected by the gas cloud surrounding its center.
It should be noted that such eruptions occur when large amounts of gas and ice accumulate and burn like frozen soda cans.
12P/Pons-Brooks has a solid core consisting of ice, dust and gas. That solid core acts like the carbonation in a soda bottle.
This happens because when heated by the sun, the pressure in the cryomagma continues to increase.
Thus, nitrogen and carbon monoxide explode and release ice debris through large cracks in the core shell.
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The second explosion in the last four months
The explosion that occurred on October 5 2023 was the second in the last four months. Previously, comet 12P/Pons-Brooks exploded on July 20, 2023.
The two explosions created what looked like a pair of giant horns when viewed through a telescope.
Some speculate that its horseshoe-like shape is also similar to the Millennium Falcon spaceship in Star Wars.
Currently, 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation Hercules and can be observed from the East-North-East direction at an altitude of 36 degrees above the horizon.
As it continues to move towards Earth, this comet will most likely continue to explode, potentially even more powerful than before.
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Didn’t hit Earth
Reporting from DailyMail, even though it is heading towards Earth, 12P/Pons-Brooks will not hit Earth. However, only close by.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will be at its closest point to Earth in April 2024.
Apart from that, it is also predicted that it will reach magnitude +4 so that it can be seen with the naked eye in May and June 2024.
Later, the brightest phenomenon will occur in the night sky on June 2 2024.
After reaching its closest point to Earth, the space rock will then be thrown back outside the solar system and will only return in 2095.
As 12P/Pons-Brooks continues to move towards Earth, it is likely that the space rock will continue to erupt, potentially even more powerfully than before.
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2023-10-20 12:30:00
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