Comet P12/ Pons-Brook

December 2, 2023

Astronomers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have used the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) in Hanle, Ladakh, to photograph the Comet P12/Pons-Brooks.

The Himalayan Chandra Telescope in Hanle, Ladakh, is a part of IIA’s Indian Astronomical Observatory, and is operated remotely from the IIA CREST Campus in Hoskote, Karnataka.

According to IIA, this comet has revealed many outbursts of gas and dust and has been dubbed the Devil Comet or the Millennium Falcon due to its appearance.
- The comet will become brighter in the coming months and may even become a naked eye comet.
Comet P12/Pons-Brooks was discovered in 1812 and orbits the Sun with a period of 71 years.
During its earlier approaches to the Sun, astronomers had observed multiple ejections of gas and dust from its nucleus, which typically gave it an appearance of being horned.
This comet will pass closest to the Sun on April 21, 2024, and will have its closest approach to Earth on June 2, 2024 (when it will be 1.5 times the Earth-Sun distance away from us).
- It is expected that this comet will be easily seen with small telescopes or binoculars, or even with the naked eye at that time.