A comet erupted on its way to Earth – and now looks like something out of Star Wars legend

A volcanic comet the size of a city now resembles the famous Millennium Falcon from Star Wars after a major eruption on its journey to Earth.

This unusual event was noticed when the comet 12P/Pons-Brooks (12P) suddenly began to shine dozens of times brighter in the sky.

Shortly afterwards, two streaks of light appeared from the comet, leading some to compare it to the iconic science fiction ship, while others think they looked like horns.

Comets are icy balls of dust, rock and gas. Unlike most, however, 12P/Pons-Brooks is a cold volcano – or cryovolcanic – comet.

As the comet approaches the sun, the gas and ice crystals inside the 30-kilometer-wide comet begin to heat up, creating pressure inside.

Ultimately, this can lead to a violent eruption, with streams of ‘cryomagma’ shooting out through cracks in the surface. The cryomagma creates a ‘coma’ or haze around the comet that reflects sunlight; The comet itself does not emit light.

And in this case, the coma made it look like horns were sprouting.

It is the second eruption of its kind this year; The comet went through a similar development in August.

This was the first time in 69 years that astronomers had seen a comet erupt.

The British Astronomical Association, which reported the outburst, has not yet said how big the ‘horns’ are this time, but in August the comet’s coma grew to about 230,000 kilometers across, about 7,000 kilometers larger than the comet itself.

12P/Pons-Brooks orbits the Sun once every 71 years and will reach its closest point to our star on April 21 next year. With any luck, the comet will approach this point, perihelion, during a total solar eclipse over North America and provide some stunning photos.

The strange comet will make its closest approach to Earth a few months later, on June 2. Despite being classified as a ‘near-Earth object’ by NASA, this horned comet is in no danger of hitting the planet.