Comet that passes Earth every 71 years is visible in the night sky

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, this is the first time a comet has been discovered from Earth in 71 years.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is getting brighter and is now visible in the night sky – but you’ll still need binoculars or a telescope to see it.

However, it may become visible to the naked eye in the coming weeks.

Dr Megan Argo, an astrophysicist at the University of Central Lancashire, said it had already had several bursts of activity.

“If we’re lucky, it may reappear as it moves across the sky in the next few weeks,” she said.

The comet, named after its discoverers, Jean-Louis Pons and William Robert Brooks, spent most of its time in the very cold outer reaches of the solar system.

It returns to the inner solar system and passes the Earth once every 71 years, so it is called a periodic comet.

Comets are primarily composed of dust, rock, and ice.

“You can think of them as being a bit like giant dirty snowballs,” Dr. Argo said.

As the comet approaches the Sun as it travels through the inner solar system, the heat causes the ice to melt directly into gas—through a process called sublimation—and some material is lost from the surface.

Dr Argo said: “This gas forms both a cloud around the comet’s solid core, called the coma, and a tail of material in space that can extend for millions of miles.”

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“The comet’s tail is made up of gas and dust that is pushed away from the comet by the force of the solar wind from the sun. This tail becomes very spectacular in the sky when viewed from Earth.”

Dr Argo said that while 12P/Pons-Brooks is forming a nice tail, “it’s not quite visible without binoculars or a telescope”.

For those who want to spot this comet, it is located below and slightly to the left of the Andromeda Galaxy.

Astronomers say the best way to view the comet is to find a place with dark skies and no tall trees, buildings or hills blocking the view.