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Ephemeris: 03/28/2024 Comet Pons-Brooks can be seen near Jupiter with binoculars

March 28, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 8:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:28. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 11:59 this evening.

A dim naked eye comet is gracing our evening skies now. It’s called 12P/Pons Brooks. The 12P designation means it was the 12th periodic comet discovered. It was discovered in 1812 by French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons and rediscovered 71 years later on its return by William Brooks. Last July it had an outburst and gained about 100 times increase in brightness. It has held on to most of that. However, right now it’s 5th magnitude which makes it very difficult to spot even in binoculars. Comets always appear to be much dimmer than their magnitude suggests. It was last seen in 1954 and has a 71-year orbit of the Sun that takes it out to Neptune’s orbit. It currently appears below-right of Jupiter.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

This is the head or coma of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks after an eruption occurred in its nucleus and a gain 100 fold in brightness. The appearance of the coma is that of either the Millennium Falcon or a devil. I don’t want to ascribe any religious significance here. This kind of thing does happen to some comets from time to time. It’s not a miracle or anything special, just a comet doing its thing just like all comets do. Photo via Space.com
Here is a finder chart for Comet Pons-Brooks for the next week at 9:30 PM. Jupiter is also in the field. The first position is marked with the name, month and day, and the approximate magnitude. The chart shows a comet tail. The tail will probably not be visible visually, however if it is visible, that is the direction it will be pointing. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Categories: Comet, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: ,