12P/Pons–Brooks

12P/Pons–Brooks is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 71 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with an orbital period between 20 and 200 years, and is also one of the brightest known periodic comets, reaching an absolute visual magnitude ~5 in its approach to perihelion.[2] Comet Pons-Brooks was discovered at Marseilles Observatory in July 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons, and then later recovered in 1883 by William Robert Brooks.[8]

12P/Pons–Brooks
Sketch of comet Pons-Brooks on 20 January 1884 by E.E. Barnard
Discovery
Discovered byJean-Louis Pons
William Robert Brooks
Discovery dateJuly 12, 1812
Designations
1812; 1884 I; 1954 VII;[1] C/1457 A1; C/1385 U1[2][3]
Orbital characteristics
Epoch2024-05-10[4]
Aphelion33.616 AU
Perihelion0.78078 AU
Semi-major axis17.199 AU
Eccentricity0.95460
Orbital period71.32 yr
69y 10m 30d (perihelion to perihelion)
Inclination74.191°
255.86°
Argument of
periapsis		198.99°
Last perihelionMay 22, 1954[5][4]
January 25, 1884
September 15, 1812
Next perihelionApril 21, 2024[6][lower-alpha 1]
Earth MOID0.176 AU (26.3 million km)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions34±12 km[7]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		5[1]

The next perihelion passage is 21 April 2024,[6][lower-alpha 1] with closest approach to Earth being 1.55 AU (232 million km) on 2 June 2024.[9] The comet is expected to brighten to about apparent magnitude 4.5.[5] The comet nucleus is estimated to be around 30 km in diameter assuming it was not producing too much dust and gas during the 2020 photometry.[7]

12P/Pons–Brooks may be the parent body of the weak December κ-Draconids meteor shower that is active from about November 29 to December 13.[10]

Observational history

Before 1812

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks has been identified as a comet observed in 1385 and in 1457. The 1385 apparition was very favourable and the comet was recorded by the Chinese in Ming Shilu and was also mentioned in some European sources. A comet observed by Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli in January 1457 and also mentioned in Chinese sources is also identified as comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. In both apparitions the comet had a magnitude of 3 or brighter, not accounting for possible outbursts. It is possible that it was also a comet recorded in Chinese sources in September 245 CE.[2]

The comet has been suggested by So-Yeon Park and Jong-Chul Chae that was also the comets recorded in Asian sources in 1313 and 1668.[11] However, Meyer et al argue that in the 1313 apparition, the comet would have been difficult to observe, being dim and close to the Sun, while the suggested position in Gemini contradicts the calculated location of comet Pons-Brooks in Aries. The March 1668 comet described by Koreans is probably the bright sungrazing comet observed by Europeans, whose orbit is no way compatible with that of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.[2]

1812 discovery
Sketches of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from 21 and 22 January 1884

Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks was discovered on July 12, 1812, by Jean-Louis Pons. Independently, this comet was later found by Vincent Wisniewski on August 1, and Alexis Bouvard on August 2 the same year. The comet was spotted with the naked eye on 13 August and by the end of the month a tail measuring 2 degrees in length was reported.[12] Shortly after its initial discovery it was found to have an orbital period of about 70 years with an error of about 5 years. Johann Franz Encke determined a definitive orbit with a period of 70.68 years. This orbit was used to generate an ephemeris for the 1883-4 return.[12]

1884

On 2 September 1883 a (faint) comet was accidentally discovered by William Robert Brooks and later identified with the comet of 1812.[12] An outburst was observed on 21-23 September 1883, as the comet brightened from magnitude 10–11 to 8–8.5 and its appearance changed from diffuse to star-like.[13] The comet became visible with naked eye in 20 November and brightened up to a magnitude of 3. The comet was reported to experience outbursts on January 1 and January 19.[12] This year it traveled from Scheat and Markab in western Pegasus, 13 January 1884; southward (through Pisces) to reach perihelion below Iota and Beta Ceti (~RA 0h, Dec. -10°) around 24 January.[14] It was last seen in June 1884.[12]

1954

The comet was recovered on 20 June 1953 when it was 4.5 AU from the Sun.[12] The comet outburst from magnitude 18 to magnitude 13 on 1 July 1953. Another outburst occurred in March 1954, the fourth observed in that apparition.[15] On April 23, the comet had an estimated magnitude of 6.4 and its tail was half a degree long.[15] Pons–Brooks came to perihelion on May 22, 1954[5] when it was 1.7 AU from Earth. After perihelion it became better visible from the south hemisphere. It was last observed on 4 September 1954 when it was 1.9 AU from the Sun.[15] On 10 December 1954, the meteor stream of comet Pons–Brooks passed about 0.12 AU (18 million km) from Earth, resulting in potential meteors impacting Earth`s atmosphere at relative velocity 45 km/s.[16]

2024 passage

On 10 June 2020 Pons–Brooks was recovered at apparent magnitude 23 by the Lowell Discovery Telescope when the comet was beyond the orbit of Saturn at 11.9 AU (1.78 billion km) from the Sun,[17][7] with the uncertainty in the comet's heliocentric distance being roughly ± 10 000 km at the time. The comet underwent an outburst from magnitude 16–17 to magnitude 11–12 (brightening by ~100x) on 20 July 2023 when it was 3.9 AU from the Sun.[18][19] The outburst resulted in the comet having a horseshoe shaped coma. It was probably created by the release of about 10 billion kilograms of dust and ice into space.[20] The coma had expanded to a diameter of 600,000 kilometers by 5 August, having an expansion rate of 220 m/s. Although initially spherical, the coma became asymmetrical due to the effects of radiation pressure on the dust.[21] The comet outburst again on 5 October 2023 from magnitude 15 to magnitude 11 (brightening by ~40x).[22]

Outbursts[lower-alpha 2] during 2023
Date Start
mag		 Outburst
mag		 Brightening Sun distance
(AU)		 Solar
elongation
2023-07-20[18]1611100x3.9101°
2023-10-05[22]151140x3.180°

There will be a solar eclipse on 8 April 2024 with the comet 25 degrees from the Sun.[23] The perihelion passage is on 21 April 2024 at 0.781 AU (116.8 million km) from the Sun with a velocity with respect to the Sun of 47.1 km/s.[6] The closest approach to Earth will be 42 days later on 2 June 2024 when it will be 1.55 AU (232 million km) from Earth.[9] Near perihelion passage the comet is expected to brighten to about magnitude 4.5 (around 400x brighter than the July 2023 outburst).[5]

Orbit
Earth close approach
Date Distance (AU) Solar
elongation
1812-Sep-21[24]1.22 AU (183 million km)40°
1884-Jan-09[12]0.63 AU (94 million km)58°
1954-Jun-29[25]1.63 AU (244 million km)38°
2024-Jun-02[9]1.55 AU (232 million km)45°
2095-Aug-31[26]1.50 AU (224 million km)32°

Libration is locked at a 6:1 resonance with Jupiter.[27] The Tisserand invariant with respect to Jupiter (J) is 0.60.[28][1] Aphelion (furthest point from the Sun) is just beyond the orbit of Neptune at 33.6 AU (5.03 billion km).

With a steep orbital inclination of 74.2° this comet does not spend a lot of time near the ecliptic. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) website shows that between the years 1900 and 2200, that the comet was and will be most significantly perturbed by Saturn on July 29, 1957. At that point it passed within 1.6AU of the giant planet's influence; even this approach had negligible effect.[1] The comet's orbit appears to be stable between 1740 and 2167, with no strong perturbations by any of the planets.[12][29]

Before the 2020 recovery, while the last observation was in 1954, Kinoshita calculated that the comet would come to a future perihelion passage (closest approach to the Sun) on 10 August 2095.[30] Accounting for observations in 2020–2023, the nominal time of perihelion passage is now calculated to be 15 August 2095.[31]

Kirkwood in 1884 noticed that Pons-Brooks shares elements with De Vico's comet of 1846. He suggested that the latter had calved off Pons-Brooks some centuries prior.[32] Later he identified the two comets' capture into their elliptical orbits (or their parent body's capture) with their shared aphelion close to Neptune 991 CE.[33]

Other comets with a similar orbital period include 13P/Olbers, 23P/Brorsen-Metcalf, and 1P/Halley.

Meteor showers

12P/Pons–Brooks is possibly the parent body of the weak December κ-Draconids meteor shower (#336) that is active from about November 29 to December 13 and generates less than 2 meteors/hour. This is the most abundant of the meteor showers predicted to be related to the comet. One more nighttime meteor shower has been tentatively associated with 12P/Pons–Brooks, the northern June Aquilids, although most probably isn't the parent body.[10] Comet Pons–Brooks could also create a meteor shower complex in Venus along with periodic comets 122P/de Vico and 27P/Crommelin.[34]

Notes
  1. JPL Horizons ephemeris generated by JPL K242/30 (Soln.date: 2023-Jul-29) has 12P/Pons-Brooks coming to perihelion at 2024-Apr-21 03:16 which is about 2 hours later than Kinoshita's 2003 solution of 00:55. The Minor Planet Center's unperturbed two-body solution (epoch 2024-05-10) gives a less accurate date of 2024-04-20.47. JPL SBDB (using an epoch of 2010) gives an even less accurate unperturbed date of 2024-Apr-19.89. See table.
  2. A cometary outburst is generally a change in apparent magnitude of between 2 and 5 magnitudes resulting in a brightening of 6 to 100 times. In 2007 comet 17P/Holmes brightened by about 15 magnitudes (nearly a millionfold).

References
  1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 12P/Pons-Brooks" (last observation: 2023-07-19). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  2. Meyer, Maik; Kobayashi, Takao; Nakano, Syuichi; Green, Daniel E. (2020). "Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks: Identification with Comets C/1385 U1 and C/1457 A1". International Comet Quarterly. arXiv:2012.15583.
  3. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks-Identical to comets C/1457 A1 and C/1385 U1 (Maik Meyer)
  4. "12P/Pons-Brooks Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  5. 12P/Pons-Brooks – Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net
  6. "Horizons Batch for 12P/Pons-Brooks (90000223) at 2024-Apr-21 03:16 (2024-Apr-21.136)" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2023-07-30. (JPL#K242/30 Soln.date: 2023-Jul-29)
  7. Quanzhi, Ye; Farnham, Tony L.; Knight, Matthew M.; Holt, Carrie E.; Feaga, Lori M. (2020). "Recovery of Returning Halley-Type Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks With the Lowell Discovery Telescope". American Astronomical Society. 4 (7): 101. arXiv:2007.01368. Bibcode:2020RNAAS...4..101Y. doi:10.3847/2515-5172/aba2d1. S2CID 220347511.
  8. Yeomans, D. K. (April 1986). "The intermediate comets and nongravitational effects". Astronomical Journal. 91 (4): 971-973. Bibcode:1986AJ.....91..971Y. doi:10.1086/114073. ISSN 0004-6256.
  9. "Closest Approach to Earth on 2 June 2024 (1 hour interval)" (Closest Earth approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-06-23. (90000223 JPL#K242/29 Soln.date: 2023-Jul-20)
  10. Tomko, D.; Neslusan, L. (2016). "Meteoroid stream of 12P/Pons-Brooks, December κ-Draconids, and Northern June Aquilids". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 592: A107. Bibcode:2016A&A...592A.107T. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201628404.
  11. Park, So-Yeon; Chae, Jong-Chul (31 December 2007). "ANALYSIS OF KOREAN HISTORICAL COMET RECORDS". Publications of the Korean Astronomical Society. 22 (4): 151–168. Bibcode:2007PKAS...22..151P. doi:10.5303/PKAS.2007.22.4.151.
  12. Kronk, Gary W. (2001–2005). "12P/Pons-Brooks". Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2009-05-07. (Cometography Home Page)
  13. Chandler, S. C., Jr. (1 November 1883). "On the Outburst in the Light of the Comet Pons-Brooks Sept. 21-23". Astronomische Nachrichten. 107 (9): 131–133. Bibcode:1883AN....107..131C. doi:10.1002/asna.18841070902. ISSN 0004-6337.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. William Dawson (1884). "The Pons-Brooks Comet". The Friend. 57: 194.
  15. Porter, J. G. (1 April 1955). "Comets (1954)". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 115 (2): 190–198. doi:10.1093/mnras/115.2.190.
  16. Chebotarev, G. A.; Kazimirchak-Polonskaya, E.I.; Marsden, B. G. (1972). The Motion, Evolution of Orbits, and Origin of Comets. D. Reidel Publishing Company. p. 473. ISBN 978-94-010-2875-2. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  17. "MPEC 2020-M114 : OBSERVATIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS AND A/ OBJECTS". IAU Minor Planet Center. 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  18. Green, Daniel (21 July 2023). "Electronic Telegram No. 5280: COMET 12P/PONS-BROOKS". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  19. Comets Mailing Group on Groups.io: 12P/Pons-Brooks in outburst!
  20. Vergano, Daniel (26 July 2023). "'Millennium Falcon' Comet Sprouts Icy Wings as It Loops around the Sun". Scientific American. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  21. Manzini, Federico; Oldani, Virginio; Ochner, Paolo; Bedin, Luigi R.; Reguitti, Andrea (17 August 2023). "ATel #16194: Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks outburst and coma expansion rate". The Astronomer's Telegram.
  22. King, Bob (2023-10-06). "Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Flares Again!". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
  23. "Horizons Batch for 12P/Pons-Brooks (90000223) at Solar Eclipse on 2024-Apr-08". JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  24. "Closest Approach to Earth around 21 September 1812" (Using 1812 orbit solution (90000220)). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  25. "Closest Approach to Earth on 29 June 1954 (1 hour interval)" (Closest Earth approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  26. "Closest Approach to Earth around 31 August 2095" (Closest Earth approach occurs when deldot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  27. Carusi et al. (1987), p. 900.
  28. Carusi et al. (1987), p. 899.
  29. Carusi et al. (1987), p. 905.
  30. Kinoshita, Kazuo (2003-02-22). "12P/Pons-Brooks past, present and future orbital elements". Comet Orbit. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  31. "Horizons Batch for 12P/Pons-Brooks (90000223) for August 2095" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  32. Kirkwood, Daniel (February 1884). "The Comet of 1812 and 1883". Popular Science Monthly. Vol. 24. pp. 488–491.
  33. Kirkwood, Daniel (January 1886). "The Comets 1812 I, and 1846 IV". The Sidereal Messenger. 5: 13–14. Bibcode:1886SidM....5...13K.
  34. Christou, A. A. (March 2010). "Annual meteor showers at Venus and Mars: lessons from the Earth". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 402 (4): 2759–2770. Bibcode:2010MNRAS.402.2759C. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.16097.x.
Sources
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