Freezing Cold Cryovolcano Erupts From Comet

Newsweek

Story by Jess Thomson • 7h ago

A comet soaring through the darkness of space has been spotted exploding with activity. A cryovolcano housed in the comet has been erupting cold materials as opposed to volcanoes on Earth that spew hot lava.

Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, the erupting comet in question, has often been observed suddenly spewing its gaseous innards into the vacuum of space from its cryovolcanoes, with 143 outbursts comprising 47 strong events and 97 mini-outbursts having been documented since mid-June 2017 by the British Astronomical Association.

This eruption in particular, which occurred on April 2, was unique, as astronomers managed to predict it before it happened.

The 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, measuring around 37 miles wide, takes roughly 15 years to orbit the sun and is one of around 500 "centaur" comets that moved from the Kuiper Belt of comets on the solar system's outskirts to an orbit between Neptune and Jupiter, per NASA.

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