The "Star Wars Comet," otherwise known as comet 12P/Pons-Brooks orbits the sun every 71 years. As such, the comet is expected to make its appearance again soon as it gets closer to the sun.
Star Wars Comet
According to Forbes, one of the recognizable feats of this comet is that it's the size of Halley's comet, which shows a weird horseshoe shape and can be seen during an upcoming total solar eclipse. This comet orbits the sun every 71 years and its schedule to get closest is coming soon.
Scientists estimate that on April 21, 2024, the comet will be at its closest point to the sun. So far, astrophotographers are imaging it in the northern hemisphere, and recently, the comet was spotted five times brighter and remains beyond Mars' orbit.
The Sky and Telescope report that Elek Tamás, Hungary's Harson Observatory amateur astronomer, spotted the comet at magnitude 11.6. However, despite being recently spotted five times brighter than its original state, the comet is still over 330 million miles from Earth.
This rare occurrence will let people photograph the comet along with the sun's corona. The reason why this comet is called the "Star Wars Comet" is because of it having a bump, making it resemble the millennium falcon.
Total Solar Eclipse
A total solar eclipse is expected to happen in North America on April 8, 2024, with people from Canada, Mexico, and 14 US states able to view it. After this, the comet is expected to reach its closest point to Earth on June 2, 2024, according to DBpedia.
On June 2, it's expected that people can view the comet with the naked eye, and it's even possible that the first sight of the 12P/Pons-Brooks comet will happen even during the hours of daylight. During this day, the comet will reach a magnitude of +4.7.
During the total eclipse, on April 8, the day is expected to black out and turn to night for a maximum of 4 minutes and 27 seconds. As for the orientation, it'll be 27º from the sun and close to Jupiter, which people will also see.
The Comet's Discovery
The discovery of the 12P/Pons-Brooks comet happened in 1812 by Jean-Louise Pons, a French astronomer. During that time, the discovery was regarded as the greatest visual comet so far.
Pons himself already discovered 37 flying objects; and in 1883, the comet was recovered by William Brooks, an American astronomer. This gained Brooks the title as co discoverer, and like Pons, Brooks also discovered many flying objects, with a record of 27 comets.
The last perihelion of the comet happened on May 22 and peaked on April 6, 1954, reaching a maximum magnitude of 6. When the comet becomes visible to Earth on June 2, it's also expected to reach a maximum magnitude of 6.
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