Featured Image Credit: James Yu/ ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/ Getty
With a nickname like the 'devil comet', you can be sure 12P/Pons-Brooks is nothing to be sneezed at.
It's said to be bigger than Mount Everest, has its sinister nickname thanks to the distinctive 'horns' astronomers spotted curving out of its surface - likely made of gas and dust - and it's hurtling towards Earth.
So far, so terrifying - but it might not be as bad as it looks.
Advert
The spiky structures that gave this 12P/Pons-Brooks its catchy nickname are actually missing, according to Live Science.
The 10.5 mile (17km) wide comet is cryovolcanic - a cold volcano - and after its latest eruption, astronomers could no longer see the horns.
Instead, the atmosphere appeared perfectly circular - but Live Science did report a new rare green hue and a mysterious shadow were seen.
Astronomy.com says the comet orbits the Sun every 71.2 years - making it, believe it or not, known as a short-period comet, because its orbit takes less than 200 years.
So, what of the reports it's hurtling towards Earth?
The comet will make its closest approach to Earth on June 2, with space enthusiasts hoping it will be visible to the naked eye.
That's closer than it normally is, sure, but it's still nothing to be worried about. Astronomy.com says that at its closest point, it will still be one-and-a-half times the distance of Earth from the Sun.
And the experts at NASA are equally unbothered by any potential threats racing towards us.
It 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.'
So even though it's fun - and a bit terrifying - to look at headlines about the devil comet the size of Mount Everest or the 'God of Chaos' asteroid hurtling towards Earth, there's not too much to actually be concerned about.
After all, what's a devil comet without its horns? Just a regular, normal comet.
