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Astronomers find a comet like the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars: Okezone techno

FOR astronomers have seen for the first time a comet that is shaped like the Millennium Falcon. The comet, known as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, suddenly brightened 100 times on July 20 as debris and ice were hurled into space.

The comet is thought to be shaped like the Millennium Falcon spaceship from “Star Wars.” Subsequently the comet will approach the sun, but it will have to pass about 144 million miles from the earth. The comet is expected to be visible from Earth on June 2, 2024.

This comet’s appearance will be closest to Earth and can be seen a few weeks after the total solar eclipse over North America on April 8, 2024.

Meteoroid

“When the blue moon is visible, you will see a solar eclipse next,” Richard Miles of the British Astronomical Association told Insider, as quoted by Sciencealert.

While it’s possible to see the comet with the naked eye, Miles recommends using binoculars. “It should be visible, but it will look clearer and brighter using binoculars,” he said.

Astronomers aren’t sure why comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which orbits the sun once every 71 years, has gotten so bright in recent weeks. Miles said there could be active icebergs on the surface, causing them to become bright enough to light up the sky.

“It’s a revolutionary idea that you have liquid inside a comet, and scientists for decades have never really figured it out,” he said.

“When you see a comet, you will be curious about the gas and liquid in the comet that causes the comet to have an unusual shape and motion,” he continued.

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This discovery helps support the theory that comets not only brought water to Earth but also helped spread the germs of life on our planet. Meanwhile, at Cardiff’s Las Cumbres Observatory, Dr Edward Gomez said the comet originated in the Oort cloud, which is well beyond the orbits of Neptune and Uranus.

“Everything that forms into planets has evolved over 4.5 billion years (e.g. through geophysical and meteorological processes) but the Oort cloud is pristine. This gives us a good picture of what conditions were like when planets formed and how they formed,” said Dr. Gomez.

The outburst of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks was discovered on 20 July by Elek Tamás of the Harsona Observatory, Nyiregyhaza, Hungary. It was later captured by members of the Comet Chasers education and awareness project led by Helen Usher of Cardiff / The Open University in England, using the Foulkes Telescope.

Carrie Holt of the University of Maryland told Scientific American that the comet may have sent 10 billion kilograms of dust and ice into space.

“Scientists only see comets using telescopes in very dark places. But in April next year people can see the comet clearly because it is giving off a very bright light,” Dr. Gomez concluded.

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