Featured Image Credit: RomoloTavani/solarseven
Topics: News, World News, Science, Space
Kit Roberts
An enormous comet 'bigger than Mount Everest' is hurtling towards the Earth.
In a move guaranteed to reassure people, it has also been christened the 'Devil Comet', a slightly more catchy name than its official title of 12P/Pons-Brooks.
The comet is believed to be larger than the highest mountain in the world, which would not be good news if it were to actually make impact with the Earth.
Advert
It was given its unnerving name due to the distinctive 'horns' which are protruding from its surface. Scientists believe these are made up of gas and dust.
The whole thing all sounds rather terrifying, but might not be quite as bad as it seems at first.
12P/Pons-Brooks is set to make its closest pass of Earth on June 2, and astronomers are even hopeful that it will be visible to the naked eye.
While that sounds very alarming, it's nothing for us to be worried about realistically.
Although it will pass close by in astronomical terms, it's worth remembering that the main thing about space is that it's very, very big.
So even when it passes at its closest point to Earth it will still be one and a half times further away than the Sun.
And if we can survive an enormous ball of intense heat, light, and radiation at that distance then a comet shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Anyone worried about us being presented with a literal Don't Look Up scenario can rest easy, as NASA itself has said that it is not aware of any large object that could hit Earth.
NASA said: "NASA knows of no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth, so the probability of a major collision is quite small.
"In fact, as best as we can tell, no large object is likely to strike the Earth any time in the next several hundred years."
That said, the metaphorical Don't Look Up scenario of the climate catastrophe is very real indeed, though not likely to happen anytime soon.
Scientists also made an interesting observation about the comet recently.
When it was observed again, it appeared that the distinctive horns which had given the comet its name were no longer there.
The 10.5-mile-wide comet is actually cryovolcanic, meaning it's a cold volcano.
And in a move mirroring that of the self-conscious demon hero Hellboy, the horns had disappeared after its latest eruption as it hurtles through space.
Instead the comet had taken on a circular shape, with Live Science reporting a rare green hue and a shadow.