12p 20230722 tlovejoy

For my astro friends, Comet Pons-Brooks is returning after 71 years. It suddenly brightened dramatically about 48 hours ago (by a factor of 100x). I managed to get some telescope time in California and was able to get this image which shows a shell of dust expanding away from the comet's nucleus in the shape of a horseshoe. Someone described it as looking like a Millennium falcon - I kind of agree!