Originally published by EarthSky.
Rui Santos in Leiria, Portugal, captured this image of Comet Pons-Brooks on March 13, 2024. This is the comet you might see in the daytime sky, near the sun in total eclipse, on April 8. View a chart below. Rui wrote: “I felt amazed by the sight of the comet, its tail stretching majestically across the sky. It’s a scene that seems to transcend time and space.” Thank you, Rui! We’ve been getting some beautiful images of this comet from our talented community of photographers.
Have you seen Comet Pons-Brooks yet? This fuzzy ball of ice and dust is making its way toward the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be on April 21. So it’ll be near the sun in our sky on eclipse day, April 8. Read about seeing the comet on eclipse day here. With the help of binoculars or a telescope, you can currently spot this comet in the evening sky now, in the northwest shortly after sunset. It’s been getting brighter! It might also become visible under dark skies to the unaided eye!
If you don’t live near dark skies or are battling clouds, you can see the comet right here, in beautiful images from the EarthSky community.
During the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the sky will darken enough that you should be able to see Venus and Jupiter. Comet Pons-Brooks will be close to Jupiter. Image via Stellarium/ Kelly Kizer Whitt. See Comet Pons-Brooks on eclipse day!
Comet Pons-Brooks and the Andromeda galaxy
Currently, the comet is hanging out in the constellation Andromeda. It appeared near the Andromeda galaxy in our sky, and astrophotographers captured some great shots of them together!
Basudeb Chakrabarti and Samit Saha from Gharwan, Himachal Pradesh, India, shared this image of Comet Pons-Brooks from March 7 to March 9, 2024, with the Andromeda galaxy. Stunning! Thank you.
Osama Fathi at the Black Desert, Egypt, captured Comet Pons-Brooks, the Andromeda galaxy, and a meteor on March 8, 2024! All in 1. Thank you, Osama.
Basudeb Chakrabarti from Gharwan, Himachal Pradesh, India, shared this image captured by Samit Raz Saha on March 7, 2024. Basudeb wrote: “Currently located in the Andromeda constellation, comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is 247,124,592 kilometers (153,000,000 miles) away from Earth. Being at a dark location, Samit Raz Saha had the opportunity to capture this magnificent comet along with the Andromeda galaxy. I sincerely thank Samit Saha for giving me the opportunity to post process the data.” Thank you both!
Will you see Comet Pons-Brooks during the eclipse?
Comet Pons-Brooks visits the inner solar system every 71 years. Its next perihelion (when it’s closest to the sun) will be on April 21, 2024. That will put the comet fairly close to the sun during the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024. But will you see the comet during the eclipse? And should you even try to look for it?
More images of the comet and galaxy
Steven Bellavia in Southold, New York, captured this view of Comet Pons-Brooks and the Andromeda galaxy on March 11, 2024. Steven wrote: “Although the comet is only 250 million kilometers (155 million miles) from Earth, with Andromeda 23 trillion kilometers (14 trillion miles) distant, they are now sharing the same part of the sky.” Thank you, Steven!
Petr Horálek in Revuca, Slovakia, captured Comet Pons-Brooks on March 5, 2024. Petr also captured the Andromeda galaxy along with “a distant tree, the fog illuminated by the passing cars.” Thank you. Petr!
Paolo Bardelli at Campo dei Fiori, Varese, Italy, shared this image of the comet and M31, the Andromeda galaxy, on March 7, 2024. Paolo wrote: “A finally successful attempt to photograph Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks during a rare evening, quite cloud-free, in a period characterized by an infinite passage of cloud fronts …” Thank you, Paolo!
More images of the comet
Radu Anghel from Ivanesti, Romania, captured this image on March 9, 2024. Radu wrote: “If it is a weekend with clear skies and a comet is close by, at the limit of the unaided-eye visibility, there is no other choice but to answer the call for astrophotography! Last evening I drove for more than an hour and a half to a place with Bortle 4 skies, just perfect for another comet image on my humble collection.” Wonderful! Thank you.
Steven Bellavia in Southold, New York, captured this image of Comet Pons-Brooks on February 25, 2024. Steven wrote: “This comet might be visible to the unaided eye during the total solar eclipse, being 24 degrees east of the sun and only 6 degrees west of Jupiter.” Thank you, Steven!
Bottom line: Have you seen Comet Pons-Brooks already? If not, here are some beautiful images from our talented community of photographers. Enjoy them!
