Comet Pons-Brooks, also known as Comet Brooks 2, is a periodic comet that was discovered independently by astronomers Jean-Louis Pons and William Robert Brooks. It belongs to the Jupiter-family of comets, meaning its orbit is strongly influenced by Jupiter's gravitational pull.

Like many comets, it consists of a nucleus of ice, dust, and rocky particles, surrounded by a glowing coma and often trailed by a luminous tail. These features result from the sublimation of volatile compounds as the comet approaches the Sun, releasing gas and dust into space.

The volatile compounds contained within comets are thought to be remnants from the formation of the solar system over 4.6 billion years ago, offering clues about the conditions and processes that occurred during that time.

Samit Raz Saha captured this stunning Comet and has given me the opportunity to post process the data.

The historic launch of JWST took place on 25th December 2021. The visuals were sudden as we did not expect to come across the Ariane V rocket from West Bengal. Initially we thought it to be a comet (including Leonard for a moment) and confirmed the object sometime later. It was a "Dream come true" for us.

The first image shows Ariane V trailing past Sculptor Galaxy. The second image is a sequence captured over 15 minutes and the third image was its first visuals.

Exif: 2 seconds, f/2, ISO 500, 135mm, Stack of 40 images (Image 1), Stack of 10 images each (Image 2), Stack of 10 images (Image 3).

Gear: Nikon D5600, Samyang 135mm (on a tripod)

Processing: Sequator, Pixinsight, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop

Location: Sukna, West Bengal, India

Date: 25th December 2021

Copyright: Samit Saha & Soumyadeep Mukherjee