Getting Ready for Eid Al-Fitr, There Are 2 Rare Phenomena in the Sky

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Verda, CNBC Indonesia

Tech

Saturday, 03/30/2024 03:30 WIB

Photo: Infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in areas known as star-forming regions W3 and W5 in the Milky Way Galaxy. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Wisconsin via AP)

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Two phenomena in the sky have the potential to appear ahead of Eid 2024. The details are a Total Solar Eclipse and the Devil’s Comet.

The Total Solar Eclipse is scheduled to appear on April 8 2024. Meanwhile, the Devil’s Comet has the potential to appear from the end of March to April 8 2024. However, both cannot be seen in Indonesia, but on the Maine to Texas route when the night sky is clear.

The Devil’s Comet itself was discovered by astrophotographer Jan Erik Vallestad. The image shows a giant ball of ice hiding in a circle of red, green and blue spiral gas around the ice core.

The spiral in the Devil’s Comet looks like a yin yang symbol. This is caused by a comet current called cryomagma, where the current rotates and forms a full rotation in two weeks.

The name Devil’s Comet was made at the end of last year, when a photo captured by an astrographer showed a burst of fire that resembled the shape of a horn.

The comet is actually called 12P/Pons-Brooks and is known as the ‘devil’s comet’. Vallestad’s latest image, taken from Norway, provides a more detailed view of Pons-Brooks as the space object moves closer to the Sun.

He explained that most astronomers focus on comet tails, which grow longer each night. However, Vallestad decided to focus on the comet’s nucleus.

“I only focused on the comet nucleus, ignoring almost everything else. Many astronomers believe comet explosions are a sign of cryovolcanic activity. So this may be further evidence of this,” said Vallestad, quoted by the Daily Mail, Friday (29/3/ 2024).

The devil’s comet is 16 km wide. The flames resemble a volcano which creates light 100 times brighter than usual when it approaches the Sun.

Pons-Brooks can currently only be seen with a telescope, binoculars, or through long exposure photos of the constellation Pisces in the afternoon.

In the coming weeks, the satanic comet will shift towards the constellation Aries. When lit, the devil’s comet will be so bright that it can be seen without a telescope.

“The increase in the brightness of the devil’s comet may be caused by the ice feeling the warmth of the Sun for the first time, then changing to a gas phase and escaping from the core, dragging dust or other ice with it,” said Lori Feaga, a professor who studies comets at the University of Maryland.

Pons-Brooks was first discovered by French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons in 1812 and in 1883 by William Brooks. However, some astronomers say there is evidence that the comet was visible as early as 1385.

This comet was last seen 71 years ago. At that time, the devil’s comet travels close to the Sun and will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

(Hi Hi)