Comet visible as it pays rare visit to inner solar system

A comet that passes by the Earth once every 71 years is currently visible in the night sky using binoculars or a small telescope.

- NILIMA MARSHALL

Astronomers say 12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter andthere is a possibility that stargazers will be able to see it with the naked eye in the coming weeks.

It has already had several outbursts of activity, raising its brightness periodically, according to Dr Megan Argo, an astrophysicist at the University of Central Lancashire. She added: “If we’re lucky, it may have another in the next few weeks as it passes through the sky.”

Comets are celestial objects that are mainly made up of dust, rock and ice. Dr Argo said: “You can think of them as a bit like giant dirty snowballs.”

12P/Pons-Brooks, named after its discoverers Jean-Louis Pons and William Robert Brooks, spends most of its time in the outer reaches of the solar system, where it is very cold. It comes back to the inner solar system every 71 years, and is hence known as a periodic comet.