Massive Comet 3x as Big as Mount Everest Has Blasted, Now Hurtling Towards Earth

(Photo : Pixabay / l_schwarze)

A massive comet that is thrice the size of Mount Everest has blasted in space. Now, according to astronomers, the comet is hurtling towards the Earth.

Massive Comet Blasts, Hurtles Toward Earth

Last October 5, astronomers picked up a massive outburst from a space rock. This came after the comet's brightness went up by a dozen times because of the added light reflecting from its stretched coma, which is the atmosphere around the comet's nucleus that freely escapes and forms when the rock nears the Sun and its ice sublimates. In the following days, the coma of the comet further expanded and developed odd horns.

The comet is currently hurtling towards the Earth and the inner solar system. By then, it will be slingshotted around our Sun.

However, it is not expected to have a direct impact on the planet. Nevertheless, it may be observable by the naked eye when it will be closest to Earth on April 21, 2024. This comes before it gets catapulted back to beyond the solar system.

The comet will not come back until the year 2095.

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12P/Pons-Brooks Comet

The rock, dubbed 12P/Pons-Brooks, is known to be a cold volcano, or cryovolcanic, comet. Its nucleus is solid and has a rough diameter of 30 kilometers. Dust, gases, and ice that act similar to carbonation in a fizzy drink make up its nucleus.

When the Sun heats it up, the pressure within its cryomagma keeps building until carbon monoxide and nitrogen bursts and flings of debris of ice through huge cracks in the shell of the nucleus.

The odd shape of the coma of the comet is likely due to its nucleus' irregular form.

Pons-Brooks experienced this twice in the span of four months. The first time happened on July 20, when astronomers were able to witness the rock blow its top for the first time in the last 69 years. During this time, the coma of the comet expanded to 230,000 kilometers, which is around 7,000 wider compared to its nucleus.

The comet is roughly as big as the famous Halley's Comet and is even referred to as a Halley-type comet due to its sun orbit that takes 71 years.

While it will be closest to the planet by next April, the comet is believed to have a +4 magnitude so that it may be visible by May and June 2024 as well. The comet will have its brightest shine over the sky on June 2, 2024.

The comet is currently part of the Hercules constellation. It can be observed when one faces the East-North-East direction with a 36 degree altitude over the horizon. As it nears the Earth, the rock may keep on erupting even more violently than it did in the past.