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Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks (or the Devil's Comet) should currently be visible to the naked eye. With a nucleus diameter of approximately 34 kilometres, akin to Mount Everest, this periodic comet completes an orbit every 71.3 years, last visiting the inner Solar System in 1954. It’s named after French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons, who discovered it in the early 19th century, and British-American astronomer William Robert Brooks, who observed it during its next orbit in 1883.

The best time to see it is when it's closest approach to the Sun (Perihelion), on the evening of April 21st after sunset, where we'll see it shine its brightest, slightly beyond the orbit of Venus at 0.8 AU (116.8 million km), with a predicted magnitude of 4.1. On June 2nd, it will make its closest approach to Earth, at 232 million km. You'll need to look low in the northwest near Jupiter as it'll be in the hoof of Taurus the Bull Constellation. It's best to go to a beach, Perth escarpment or a location with no buildings or trees on the north-west horizon.

This time around, the comet has displayed an intriguing change in appearance, sporting a distinctive horseshoe-shaped coma, reminiscent of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars or Devil Horns. Notably, it experienced outbursts on October 5th, 2023, and again in late November.

The orbit of Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks is highly inclined at 74.2°, reaching aphelion at 33.6 AU from the Sun, just beyond Neptune’s orbit. It is believed to be the progenitor of the weak December Draconids meteor shower, active from November 29th to December 13th. Among the brightest known periodic comets, it belongs to the Halley-type group, characterised by orbital periods of 20–200 years. Ancient records also suggest sightings of comets suspected to be apparitions of 12P/Pons–Brooks.

#Perth #WA #spacenews #space #astronomynews #astronomy #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #westernaustralia #perthlife #perthgram #perthhappenings #whatsinthesky #stargazing #astrotourism #astrotourismwa #nightphotography #astrophotography #nightscapes #astrophoto #ponsbrookscomet #cometa #comet #comets #devilcomet #perthobservatory #perthobs

Thanks to the volunteers of the @kalamunda_annual_show and the Perth Hills Community for a fantastic 2024 Kalamunda Show. This year's show was amazing and we have heaps of people from the Perth Hills community come and visit our stall to explore the wonders of our Sun with our solar telescopes during the day, and gaze at the mesmerising Moon in the night sky through our Dobsonian telescopes.

See you there in 2025!

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #supportlocal #Stargazing #expericenceperthhills #perthtodo #perthisok #perthhills #visitperthhills #perthillskalamunda #perthisok #soperth #perthevents #experienceperth #experiencewa #KalamundaShow #KalamundaShow2024 #bibbulmuntrack #ThisisWA #wanderoutyonder #whatsoninperth #justanotherdayinwa #perthobservatory #perthobs

A huge thanks to everyone who joined us for the Apollo 11 documentary screening on Yuri's Night at the Observatory on Friday night!

Despite the weather's attempt to rain on our parade, we're thrilled it cleared up just in time for an out-of-this-world experience. Special gratitude to the archive producer, Stephen Slater, for gracing us with his presence and sharing his insights into this incredible film. And a big shoutout to our amazing volunteers for helping us make it all happen!

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #westernaustralia #perthlife #perthhappenings #perthevents #perthtodo #perthisok #perthentertainment #justanotherdayinwa #cityofperth #perthgram #whatsoninperth #experienceperth #experiencewa #ThisisWA #wanderoutyonder #WAtheDreamState #seeperth #thingstodoperth #familyfun #YurisNight #YurisNight2024 #Apollo11 #perthobservatory #perthobs

Just after 8 pm our Matt Woods (@matthewlwwoods) will be on @6prperth for his monthly segment with Harvey Deegan. Harvey and Matt will be chatting about if life could exist on Jupiter’s moon Europa currently, and what caused the brightest explosion ever seen in space.

UPDATE: Here is the interview https://bit.ly/3vRFv1p

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #westernaustralia #perthlife #perthgram #perthhappenings #perthnow #perthgram #perthtoday #astronomynews #astronomy #spacenews #space #perthmedia #wanow #perthradio #6pr #6prPerth #NewsTalk6PR #HarveyDeegan #RememberWhen #MattWoods #watoday #stargazing #nightsky #perthobservatory #perthobs

The International Space Station (@iss) will fly over extremely bright Saturday night at 7:23 pm (Mag -3.2) and Sunday night at 6:35 pm (Mag -3.8).

To use the attached maps, face south and hold the map above your head, and you'll see the path of the flyover.

#spotthestation #internationalspacestation #spacestation #iss #Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #westernaustralia #perthnow #perthgram #perthevents #perthlife #perthtodo #perthhappenings #ThisisWA #wanderoutyonder #perthhills #perthisok #perthlife #experienceperthhills #experienceperth #perthentertainment #seeperth #whatsoninperth #stargazing #nightsky #perthobservatory #perthobs

Today at 11:42 pm AWST, the Great North American E

Find out what's in April's night sky here with our

Attention all Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fan

We're hoping you're all having a happy Easter Long Weekend Everyone!!!

#Perth #WA #westernaustralia #australia #perthlife #perthhappenings #easter #happyeaster #easterbunny #eastereggs #eastersunday #chocolate #family #eggs #easterbasket #easteregg #perthobservatory #perthobs

On the weekend of the 3rd to 5th of May, experienc

🌞✨ Join us at the @kalamunda_annual_show on April 12th & 13th! 🚀

Explore the wonders of our Sun with our solar telescopes during the day, and gaze at mesmerising objects in the night sky through our telescopes after sunset. 🌌

Don't forget to stop by our shop for awesome space-themed products! See you there!

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #supportlocal #Stargazing #expericenceperthhills #perthtodo #perthisok #perthhills #visitperthhills #perthillskalamunda #perthisok #soperth #perthevents #experienceperth #experiencewa #KalamundaShow #KalamundaShow2024 #bibbulmuntrack #ThisisWA #wanderoutyonder #whatsoninperth #justanotherdayinwa #perthobservatory #perthobs

On the 21st of March fellow volunteers Mohammad and Matt helped photographer Steve Nicholls (@stevejack2) with his “Passions” project (https://bit.ly/4a7JkOR) taking one of the Perth Observatory's Celestron CPC1100s down to his studio for a photoshoot.

We want to thank Steve for the opportunity, we can't believe how good the photos look, and we're looking forward to seeing his future exhibits

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #photoshoot #photography #photographer #photo #model #portrait #style #art #modeling #portraitphotography #perthlife #telescope #perthobservatory #perthobs

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