{"id":56487,"date":"2024-03-20T14:23:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T14:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b63a6110-5687-401e-9ed4-67c22cd0014e"},"modified":"2024-03-20T15:33:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T15:33:50","slug":"comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse\/","title":{"rendered":"Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks disappears as April draws to a close. But not before meeting Jupiter and the eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Stuart Atkinson\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 20 March 2024 at 14:23 PM<\/p>

\n\n

If you’ve been enjoying observing the ‘Devil Comet’ – Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks – this year from the Northern Hemisphere, you should make the most of it, as the celestial visitor is due to disappear from our skies as April 2024 draws to a close.<\/p>

Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks<\/a> will be low in the sky in April, but if you have a low enough horizon you should be able to see it meet the planet Jupiter.<\/p>

And, there’s a chance that Comet Pons-Brooks will be visible during the April 8 total solar eclipse<\/a>.<\/p>

Chart showing location of Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks in April 2024, passing beneath Uranus and Jupiter. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The story so far<\/strong><\/h2>
Astronomers have been looking forward to the return of Comet 12P\/Pons\u2013Brooks for many years because it has repeatedly experienced \u2018outbursts\u2019 that have increased its brightness for brief periods.<\/p>
On 20 July 2023, the comet<\/a> brightened a hundredfold, from mag. 16 to mag. 11, after an explosive event on the surface of its nucleus sent 10 billion kilograms of material blasting off it into space.<\/p>
***Find out how to photograph Pons-Brooks in our guide on*** ***how to photograph a comet<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>***
$\"An$
An outburst in 2023 caused Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks to develop a ‘horned’ coma, leading it to be nicknamed ‘the Devil Comet’. Credit: Filipp Romanov<\/figcaption><\/figure>
When this happened, the comet was utterly transformed visually, changing almost overnight from a mere faint, circular smudge in telescope eyepieces to a much brighter anvil with a horn curving away on either side.<\/p>
A change that saw it christened the Devil Comet on social media and in the press. Several other large outbursts have been observed in the months since.<\/p>
Will such a dramatic event happen again with Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks in April?<\/p>
$\"Comet$
Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks captured on 5 March 2024 by Tim Jackson from Cheltenham, UK. Equipment: Zwo 2600mc pro camera, Askar FRA500 telescope, Zwo AM5 mount.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Like comet-watchers everywhere, we hope so, but there is no way of knowing in advance \u2013 which for some is part of the appeal!<\/p>
If it does undergo another outburst, it could go from a modest, naked-eye smudge to something much brighter and more impressive.<\/p>
But we can\u2019t count on that happening. So, putting hope and hype aside, what can we expect to see in April?\u00a0<\/p>
$\"Comet$
Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks captured by Leonardo Leite on 28 February 2024 from Tooele, Utah, USA. Equipment: SV405CC camera, Samyang 135mm f\/2 lens @ f\/2.8, AzGti equatorial mount.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Comet 12P\/Pons Brooks April 2024 key dates<\/strong><\/h2>
As April begins, Comet 12P\/Pons\u2013Brooks is expected to have reached mag. 5.0, which will technically make it visible to the naked eye.<\/p>
However, it will be low in the darkening twilight sky, so you\u2019ll probably need binoculars or a small telescope to see it.\u00a0<\/p>
Photos taken of the comet in mid-February showed it was already sporting a 2\u02da-long tail, so the chances are that this feature will have grown longer and brighter.<\/p>
Cross your fingers for a fuzzy grey-green smudge with a misty tail stretching away from it!\u00a0<\/p>
During April, Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks will appear to approach and then pass beneath one of the brightest planets in the sky, Jupiter.<\/p>
$\"Chart$
Chart showing the location of Comet 12p\/Pons-Brooks on 1 April 2024. Click to expand. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>
On **1 April<\/strong>, the two will be just under 13\u02da apart, low in the northwest after sunset.<\/p>**
**They might be difficult to see until the sky has darkened, as by that time they will be low, but still well worth looking for.<\/p>**
**As the evenings pass, Pons\u2013Brooks is expected to steadily brighten as it draws closer to Jupiter.<\/p>**
As both will be low in the northwest, aim to observe from an elevated or coastal location with an open horizon clear of hills, trees or buildings on the skyline, which will hide the planet and its cometary visitor from view.<\/p>
**The brightness of the sky will be an additional challenge to seeing the comet, although if it has another outburst it could be much brighter.<\/p>**
$\"Chart$
Chart showing the location of Comet 12p\/Pons-Brooks on 9 April 2024. Click to expand. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>
If the comet develops a tail of any decent length, we might see that poking up from behind the horizon after its head has set.<\/p>
Crossing your fingers would be a good idea.<\/p>
On **8 April<\/strong>, observers in the US watching the total solar eclipse could be in for an amazing treat, as Comet Pons-Brooks could be visible during the eclipse<\/a>.<\/p>**
By the evening of **9 April<\/strong>, the comet and Jupiter will be just 5\u00b0 apart.<\/p>**
Look out for a very thin crescent Moon forming a triangle with the comet and the gas giant low in the sky on **10 April<\/strong>.<\/p>**
**$\"Chart$**
Chart showing the location of Comet 12p\/Pons-Brooks on 10 April 2024. Click to expand. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>
By the evening of **13 April<\/strong>, the comet and Jupiter will be just 3\u00b0 apart and should both fit in the same binocular field of view.<\/p>**
**However, the pair will be very low in the sky after sunset and, depending on how bright it is at this time, the comet could be drowned out by the twilight.<\/p>**
By **20 April<\/strong>, Pons\u2013Brooks will have reached its peak magnitude, around mag. 4.4, but it will be setting just an hour after the Sun.<\/p>**
**Again we\u2019ll cross our fingers for an outburst that brightens it enough to fight through the twilight.<\/p>**
**$\"Chart$** Chart showing the location of Comet 12p\/Pons-Brooks on 13 April 2024. Click to expand. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks quick facts<\/strong><\/h2>
Comet 12P\/Pons\u2013Brooks was discovered in July 1812 by French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons.<\/p>
It was recovered in 1883 by astronomer William Brooks, who identified it as the same comet seen in 1812, which is why it bears both astronomers\u2019 names.<\/p>
Pons\u2013Brooks is a classic Halley-type periodic comet<\/a>, which means it has an orbit around the Sun that takes between 20 and 200 years.<\/p>
Pons\u2013Brooks\u2019s orbit takes 71 years \u2013 just a few years less than that of Halley\u2019s Comet itself<\/p>
It last visited our skies in 1953.<\/p>
It was recovered again on 10 June 2020 when it was 11.9 AU (1.78 billion kilometres) away, still beyond Saturn.<\/p>
It was shining, if that\u2019s the right word, at mag. 23.\u00a0<\/p>
$\"Diagram$
Diagram showing the orbit of Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks in the Solar System. Planets not to scale. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/figcaption><\/figure>
This occasional visitor is one of the brightest known periodic comets, regularly reaching naked-eye brightness when it appears in our sky.<\/p>
This is \u03c5 partly because of its size; Pons\u2013Brooks\u2019s nucleus is much larger than the average comet\u2019s, with a diameter of 30km or so.<\/p>
In comparison, Halley\u2019s nucleus has a diameter of around only 15km; the nuclei of both comet Encke and 2020\u2019s beautiful comet C\/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) are just under 5km wide; while comet 67P\/Churyumov\u2013Gerasimenko, studied by the ESA Rosetta mission in 2014, has a diameter of only 4km.<\/p>
In contrast, beloved Hale\u2013Bopp is twice the size of Pons\u2013Brooks, a whopping 60km in diameter.<\/p>
***If you manage to observe or photograph Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks this month, don’t forget to*** ***send us your images<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n***
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By Stuart Atkinson Published: Wednesday, 20 March 2024 at 14:23 PM If you’ve been enjoying observing the ‘Devil Comet’ – Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks – this year from the Northern Hemisphere, you should make the most of it, as the celestial visitor is due to disappear from our skies as April 2024 draws to a close. Comet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":56488,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/03\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse.jpg",500,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/03\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/03\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/03\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse.jpg",500,500,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/03\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse.jpg",500,500,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/03\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse.jpg",500,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/03\/comet-12p-pons-brooks-disappears-as-april-draws-to-a-close-but-not-before-meeting-jupiter-and-the-eclipse.jpg",500,500,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Stuart Atkinson Published: Wednesday, 20 March 2024 at 14:23 PM If you’ve been enjoying observing the ‘Devil Comet’ – Comet 12P\/Pons-Brooks – this year from the Northern Hemisphere, you should make the most of it, as the celestial visitor is due to disappear from our skies as April 2024 draws to a close. Comet…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/56487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}