Multiple Outbursts of Halley-Type Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

We present optical observations of Halley type comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on its approach to perihelion. The comet was active even in the first observations at about 8 au. Starting at 4 au, 12P exhibited an extraordinary series of outbursts, in which the brightness changed by a factor up to 100 and the coma morphology transformed under the action of radiation pressure into a distinctive ``horned'' appearance. Individual outburst dust masses are several x 1e9 kg, with kinetic energies 1e14 J, release times 1e4 s and effective power 1e10 W. These properties are most consistent with, although do not definitively establish, an origin by the crystallization of amorphous water ice with the related release of trapped supervolatile gases. This interpretation is supported by the observation that the specific outburst energy and the specific crystallization energy are comparable (both near 1e5 J kg/s.