Recently Jupiter did us a real solid by blocking a large asteroid that was on its way to Earth, but we’re not out of the woods yet — turns out a huge comet is headed our way and this time there’s nothing Jupiter can do about it!
But wait! No need to panic or start making sacrifices to the Gods quite yet — turns out our other BFF in the Solar System, the Sun, will probably be able to deal with it. Before the comet (which has been given the not-so-catchy name “2012 S1”) gets close to us, it’ll have to take a spin around the Sun, and generally stars and space ice balls don’t mix.
Now, if the comet does survive its close encounter with the Sun without melting, it still probably won’t collide with the Earth, but it’ll come close and provide a pretty spectacular lightshow. 2012 S1 will likely pass us by sometime in January 2014, and may be one of the brightest comets in history. As in, as bright as a full moon. So yeah, prepare your telescopes and/or doomsday predictions now.
via Gizmondo