Massive 'devil comet' with horns set for another eruption soon, say scientists

The massive 'Devil Comet' that is hurling towards Earth and has experienced several explosive events this year has led scientists to find a pattern for its eruptions.

The researchers now saw that the massive comet is likely to 'blow' as the space rock appears to eject ice and gas every 15 days violently. 

As per the astronomers, the cosmic object, which is also known as comet 12P, rotates for over two weeks, positioning its cryovolcanic vent toward the sun which then gets activated by heat.

The last such explosive event took place on Dec 14, making Dec 29 or 30 the next date for the eruption.

"It's like 'Old Faithful," Spaceweather.com quoted Richard Miles of the British Astronomical Association as saying.

"Comet 12P has a super cryogeyser, the eruption of which occurs after local sunrise at its location," he added.

Devil Comet with horns

Comet 12P is cryovolcanic, meaning it has an icy shell or nucleus filled with gas and ice. After the comet absorbs enough radiation from the sun, its cryomagma or frosty innards get superheated. The pressure increases inside the nucleus till the shell cracks and the icy guts of the comet spray into space.

After every eruption, the comet's dust and a fuzzy, reflective cloud of cryomagma expand and make it appear brighter to astronomers. Till now, the comet had three major eruptions. One took place on July 20 when it was seen exploding for the first time in 69 years and the other explosion happened on October 5 when the eruption was more vigorous; and the third on Halloween (October 31) which was a comparatively less intense outburst.

Why do horns appear on the comet?

Every time an explosion occurred on the comet, its coma took an irregular shape with a "dark lane" which made it appear to have grown a pair of horns. On November 14, the comet had another major eruption, which was the most extreme outburst till now.

Astronomers watched as the comet became more than 100 times brighter than normal for some days after its coma expanded, reported Spaceweather.com. However, this time they could not see its distinctive horns.

"The coma seems perfectly circular this time," said Nick James, director of the British Astronomical Association's (BAA) comet section, while speaking to Spaceweather.com.

(With inputs from agencies)