The “Devil’s Comet” is approaching the Earth, which can be seen with the naked eye

The “Devil’s Comet” is approaching the Earth, the size of which exceeds Mount Everest. The official name of the object is 12P/Pons-Brooks, reports The Guardian.

The comet owes its “name” to the astronomer Jean-Louis Pons, who discovered it in 1812, and the astronomer William Robert Brooks, who observed the comet in 1883. But the name “Devil’s Comet” appeared due to the “horned” haze around the object.

The nucleus of 12P/Ponce-Brooks is 30 km in diameter, and the object is classified as a cryovolcanic comet. This means that when the pressure inside it increases as it heats up, gas, dust, and ice are ejected.

In the coming weeks, the comet may become visible even to the naked eye. The best views are promised in the northern hemisphere. The Devil’s Comet will reach its closest point to the Sun on April 21.

Earlier, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers discovered the first known case of water vapor around a comet in the main asteroid belt (a region of the solar system located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter).