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I’m not sure why anyone in 2024 would have a pair of binoculars, but if you do, get ready because a comet that passes Earth every 71 years will be visible in the night sky this afternoon.
Astronomers are very excited because the celestial object ’12P/Pons-Brooks’ is getting brighter and brighter.
For now, all you need are binoculars or a small telescope, according to Dr Megan Argo, an astrophysicist at the University of Central Lancashire.
PA/Stuart Atkinson
She said: “If we’re lucky, I may have another one in the next few weeks as it passes through the sky.”
Astronomers have also observed that if the comet’s brightness continues to increase periodically, people will be able to see it simply with the naked eye.
But if you are reading this and still have no idea what a comet is, then you are in the right place.
Comets are basically celestial objects made up of dust, rock and ice.
That’s all.
Dr Argo said: “They can be thought of as giant, dirty snowballs.”
As the comet approaches the sun, the heat causes the ice to melt and turn into gas, through a process called sublimation.
“This gas forms both a cloud around the solid nucleus of the comet – known as a coma – and a tail of material that can extend many millions of kilometers into space,” he added.
“The tail is made of gas and dust that has been blown out of the comet by the power of the solar wind flowing from the Sun, and this tail is the part that can become spectacular in the sky as seen from Earth.”
PA/Stuart Atkinson
Stuart Atkinson, an amateur astronomer based in Cumbria, has been taking photographs of the comet with his DSLR camera.
He said: “Over the next few weeks it will brighten a little more, but the Moon is now in the sky and its brightness will dim the comet.
“You’ll need binoculars to see the comet, and even then it will just look like a blurry star with a hint of a tail behind it.
“Fortunately, there is a bright planet very close to it, Jupiter, so if you move your binoculars to the right of Jupiter, very slowly, that will help.
“People think that comets cross the sky like shooting stars, but that’s not true, they only move a little each night, so the comet will remain in the sky for a while yet.
“The comet is too small and too faint to be captured by phone cameras unless you use special ‘night mode’ or an astrophotography app, and even then it is so small that it will be difficult to capture images with the camera.” of a telephone.”
Featured Image Credit: PA/Stuart Atkinson
Topics: Science, UK News, Space