The ‘ Devil Comet ’ Will Be a Heavenly Co-Star During the Eclipse. Here ’ s What to Know

One of cosmic history’s greatest acts of photo-bombing will take place on April 8, when the great solar eclipse is unfolding across North America. Tens of millions of people in the path of the event will be turning their eyes upward as the moon passes in front of the sun. But at least a few people—including an untold number of astronomers—will be looking off to the side too, as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, more evocatively known as the Devil Comet, streaks through the skies. 
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It was 1954 when the Devil Comet last reached perihelion—its closest approach to the sun. A gallon of gas cost 29⊄ and the top-grossing U.S. movie was White Christmas. The comet’s appearance at the time made it a celestial headliner. Its appearance during the eclipse this month will make it a sort of cosmic undercard, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a striking celestial object.

First spotted in 1812 by French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons, and then confirmed on a later pass in 1883 by American astronomer William Brooks, the comet is something of a bruiser, measuring 17 km (10.5 mi) across. For comparison, Halley’s Comet is 15 km (9.3 mi.) long. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs is thought to have been about 10 km (6.2 mi.) in size.

It’s no minor feat to determine a comet’s dimensions when you’re viewing it from tens or hundreds of millions of miles away. The Devil Comet had its...

Source: TIME: Science - March 21, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized Eclipse healthscienceclimate Source Type: news