EVANSVILLE — A total solar eclipse won't be the only rare celestial event to shine over Evansville on April 8.
That same day will include the arrival of “Devil's Comet”: a celestial ball of dust and ice that last burned across the sky in 1954.
Officially known as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks – named after its astronomical founders, Jean-Louis Pons and W.R. Brooks – the comet gets its most dangerous moniker from two horns of ice and gas protruding from its body. Meanwhile, others have compared it to Han Solo's Millennium Falcon.
The comet should already be visible in the night sky by now, according to NASA officials Paul Chodas and Davide Varnocchia. He told CNN last week. But as it makes its way through the stars, it will eventually only become visible during the day in this part of the world, making it difficult to see in sunlight.
Here comes the eclipse.
During Evansville's brief period of darkness between 2:02 and 2:05 p.m. on April 8, viewers wearing eclipse glasses should also get a clear view of Comet Satan about 25 degrees from the sun. According to NASA.
It can make a great show. Dr. Theodore Carretta, researcher at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, He told ABC News A comet is prone to random outbursts that sometimes make it visible to someone who happens to be staring at the sky at the right time.
“These explosions… transformed this object from being faint enough that you could only see it with large professional telescopes, to something people could see from their backyard, in some cases,” he added.
When was the last time the Devil's Comet appeared?
Pons Brooks crosses Earth's sky once every 70 years or so, meaning this may be the only time some Evansville residents will see it. There is no mention of Flight 54 in Evansville newspaper archives, and 1884 brought only a few reports.
However, her apparent visit in 1812 sparked conspiracy theories in the furthest corners of social media.
That year brought the final part of a series of earthquakes along the New Madrid Seismic Zone so powerful that it temporarily reversed the flow of the Mississippi River. Now the comet's return has sparked wild speculation that, as it did in the early 19th century, an earthquake might come with it. But earthquakes are unpredictable, and it goes without saying that comets have nothing to do with them.
According to astronomers, it won't pose any kind of “deep impact” risk either. Officials told CNN that it will come no closer than about 139 million miles, meaning it will drift away peacefully, biding its time until another return in the 2090s.
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