Astronomers from the Simeiz Observatory in Crimea recorded a powerful flare on comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann. This was reported by the press service of the M.V. Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (IPM) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Similar phenomena have not been observed since the end of February this year. The medium-power flare on comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann was first seen in the world with a one-meter telescope on the evening of May 13.
29P is a very unusual comet. Moving in a near-circular orbit slightly beyond Jupiter, it constantly flares up, quickly and suddenly increasing its brightness by factors or dozens of times. The number of small flares is in the dozens per year, and more powerful ones, like the May flare, occur every few months.
Scientists note that regular flares occur due to eruptions of icy volcanoes (cryovolcanoes) on the large cryocore of comet 29P.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that a Russian astronomer discovered the 15th comet in his career.
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