A series of cosmic outbursts
Pons-Brooks recently captured the attention of astronomers after exhibiting intriguing behavior that caused the comet to have a horned appearance and soar through our solar system.
The comet has experienced a number of outbursts during the past eight months, causing it to eject gas and dust. While such releases are not uncommon in comets and a crescent or Pac-Man shape has been observed in other ones, it’s difficult to tell what is normal for Pons-Brooks.
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“I would say it’s somewhat unusual in the number of outbursts it’s been having,” Schleicher said. “On the other hand, it’s not like you have good records from the past to really let you know what is typical. And I suspect given the fairly large number of outbursts that have happened over the last eight months, that this is very clearly a usual occurrence for Pons-Brooks.”
Comets are chunks of dust, rock and ice, essentially frozen remnants from the formation of the solar system. They also contain frozen elements such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
Comets heat up and brighten as they approach the sun, and some of the frozen gases stored in comets don’t need to warm up much before they begin to turn into vapor, Schleicher said.
