Jakarta – A comet as giant as Mount Everest is predicted to be visible at the end of March and during the solar eclipse on April 8. Astronomers have also released images of the comet known as the ‘Devil’s Comet’.
Launch detikInetthese images show a giant ball of ice hiding a swirl of red, green, and blue gas around its icy core.
The spiral shape, which looks like the yin and yang symbol, is caused by the comet emitting streams of cryomagma as it rotates and because it makes a complete rotation within two weeks. The ice beam is twisted into a vortex as seen in the picture.
Stargazers were able to see the comet with the naked eye in late March and during the solar eclipse on April 8. Those in areas far from city lights and light pollution can clearly see the comet in the night sky.
Astrophotographer Jan Erik Vallestad captured the close-up image using special software to zoom in on the comet’s coma area, the scientific term for a cloud of icy dust.
Why is it called the Devil’s Comet?
The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks, is known as the ‘devil’s comet’. He got this nickname last year when a photo captured him with a horseshoe shape at the top that resembles horns.
But Vallestad’s latest image, taken from Norway, provides a more detailed picture of Pons-Brooks as it moves closer to the Sun.
He explained that most astronomers focus on comet tails, which grow longer each night, but Vallestad decided to focus on the comet’s nucleus.
“I only focused on the comet nucleus, ignoring almost everything else. Many astronomers believe comet explosions are a sign of cryovolcanic activity. So this may be further evidence of this,” said Vallestad as quoted by the Daily Mail, Saturday (22/3/ 2024).
This article has appeared on detikInet, read in full here.
(mso/mso)
2024-03-30 21:00:01
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