Credit & Copyright: Jan Erik Vallestad
Explanation:
A bright comet will be visible during next month's total solar eclipse.
This very
unusual coincidence occurs because
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks's
return to the inner Solar System places it by chance only
25 degrees away from the Sun during 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 toward the
constellation
of the Fish
(Pisces).
Comet Pons-Brooks,
though, is putting on quite a show for deep camera images even now.
The featured image is a
composite of three very specific colors, showing the comet's ever-changing
ion tail in light blue, its outer
coma in green,
and highlights some red-glowing gas around the coma in a
spiral.
The spiral is thought to be caused by gas being expelled by the slowly
rotating nucleus of the giant iceberg comet.
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.
Total Eclipse Info:
2024 Total Solar Eclipse from NASA
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr' |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
|
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