• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
How to view once-in-a-lifetime 'Mother of Dragons' green comet visible in the sky tonight

Home> Science

Updated 13:22 4 Apr 2024 GMT+1Published 13:23 4 Apr 2024 GMT+1

How to view once-in-a-lifetime 'Mother of Dragons' green comet visible in the sky tonight

Brits are in for a unique treat tonight.

Rebekah Jordan

Rebekah Jordan

Citizens across the United States, Canada and Mexico are in for a treat on 8 April this year.

Meanwhile, Brits will have a chance to experience a unique event tonight (4 April) when the 'Mother of Dragons' shoots through the night sky.

The comet, scientifically termed Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks, was given the Game of Thrones-style name by the European Space Agency. The researchers theorise that it could be the source of the kappa-Draconids meteor shower, which occurs in the final months of each year.

12P/Pons-Brooks belongs to a category known as cryovolcanic comets, which exhibit volcanic activity.

Advert

Unlike actual volcanoes however, these comets release a mix of gases and ice rather than molten rock and lava.

European Space Agency
European Space Agency

The last time this comet was visible was 1954 so it's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Here's how you can spot it tonight!

Advert

Gregory Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich announced that 12P may be visible to the naked eye.

He explained: 'The comet can now be found in the constellation of Aries which is visible in the early evening, over in the west. It will only become visible after twilight and sets by around 10pm BST.

'While it may be possible to see with the unaided eye, it is best to try and observe with a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.'

The comet will supposedly look like an 'irregularly shaped dirty snowball' with a green tint and tail.

Advert

Sky gazers should look towards the west-northwest, just above the horizon, to catch sight of the Mother of Dragons comet. It should appear north of the Great Square of Pegasus constellation.

Juan Lacruz/Wikimedia Commons
Juan Lacruz/Wikimedia Commons

By 21 April, the comet will be 72.5 million miles (116.8 million km) away from the sun, while by 2 June, it will be 144 million miles (232 million km) from our planet Earth.

At this point, astronomer Jessica Lee mentions that it'll be too late to see it in the northern hemisphere by this time.

Advert

'From June onwards, after the comet has passed the sun, it will only be visible to observers in the southern hemisphere,' added Lee.

Comets in our solar system orbit the Sun because they're attracted by its gravitational pull, just like planets.

12P/Pons-Brooks completes an orbit around the sun every 71 years, but this is relatively short compared if you consider that most orbital lengths take thousands of years.

The next time it will be visible from Earth, however, will be 2095.

Featured Image Credit: Juan Lacruz/Wikimedia Commons / European Space Agency
Space
Science

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

a day ago
2 days ago
  • Instagram / Mason Newman
    a day ago

    Man who experienced bizarre 'Mounjaro penis’ that increased his manhood by ‘3 inches’ speaks out

    As waistlines shrink, something else might be growing

    Science
  • Yuichiro Chino / Getty
    a day ago

    Fears of 'mega constellation' rise as China plan to launch 200,000 satellites into space

    The sky is about to get a lot more crowded

    Science
  • Nemes Laszlo/Getty Images
    a day ago

    NASA issue worrying update about Mars spacecraft after it vanished in space

    NASA is continuing the efforts to establish a reconnection

    Science
  • ashleyyv26 / Tiktok
    2 days ago

    Terrifying footage inside Pyramids of Giza 'confirms' they weren't built by humans as viewers are left shook

    E.T. has a lot for answer for

    Science
  • 'Once in a lifetime double comet' set to be visible from today in close approach to Earth
  • How to see menacing 'bloody Moon' that will turn red in the sky this weekend
  • Hubble telescope spots 'strangely alive' green blob in outer space
  • How to see rare meteor shower as hundreds of fireballs are set to light up the sky this week