Will 'Devil Comet' hurtling towards Earth bring devastation? Here's what scientists suggest

The "Devil Comet" which is hurtling towards Earth and has exploded on its way from the sun has created a lot of buzz about being roughly twice the size of Mount Everest and having cloud horns, which make it appear menacing.

However, researchers who have been studying such phenomenon, while speaking to Insider, said that although the comet is large and unusual, it does not mean that it poses any threat to planet Earth.

The comet, which is called “12P/Pons-Brooks” by scientists made an appearance in the skies of the Earth last time more than 70 years ago. Judging by the comet's brightness, astronomers estimated that the comet's solid part or its nucleus is around 12.4 miles across, which is approximately double the size of Mount Everest.

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Generally, comets are between 0.6 and 1.8 miles wide, as per Teddy Kareta, who is a postdoctoral researcher at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. "We know it's big. We know it's an outlier. We know it's rare," Kareta said while speaking to Insider.

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An extinction-level event threat?

He added that it is most likely to be visible to the naked eye next spring, however, it is not barrelling towards our planet with a scope of carrying out an extinction-level event.

Kareta clarified that the comet will still remain around one-and-half astronomical units away from Earth. "It might be bright enough that you can see with your naked eye or with binoculars, but that's not because it's going to be super close. It's because it's just generally very bright,” said Kareta.

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The “horns” of the comet have been formed by tails of gas and dust released in an odd series of explosive outbursts which scientists have still not been able to understand. Two such outbursts were seen this year – the first occurred in July and the other earlier this month.

An "outburst" as per Kareta, is "where comets suddenly get much more active," throwing off tons of gas and dust in a short period of time. “When this happens the comet brightens really rapidly and then sort of fades back to the brightness it had before," he said.

"And in Pons-Brooks, these are really, really bright — really, really large outbursts. And this is what makes this comet so interesting to scientists,” he added.

The outbursts have been particularly interesting because of their frequency and where they took place. As per one theory, the comet contains forms of ice which after getting exposed to the sun's heat for the time leads to volatile explosions.

However, those explosions have typically been seen closer to the sun and do not occur often. As per Kareta, "It might happen twice in five years."

(With inputs from agencies)

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