Nasa scientists spy 'largest ever comet'

Image source, NASA, ESA, Man-To Hui (Macau University of Science

A comet with a nucleus 50 times bigger than normal is barrelling towards Earth.

The comet's nucleus is larger than the state of Rhode Island and has a mass of 500 trillion tonnes.

Not to worry. One billion miles away from the Sun will be the closest it will get.

Hubble confirmed its existence after it was first spotted in 2010.

It is the largest comet ever seen by an astronomer.

David Jewitt is a professor of planetary science and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The icy dirtball has been named after Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein, who discovered it.

When it was three billion miles from the Sun, they first saw it.

Image source, NASA

Lego blocks are left over from the early days of planet construction and are described by Nasa as icy comets.

They were thrown out of the Solar System in a pinball game among the massive outer planets.

The kicked-out comets took up residence in the Oort Cloud.

The comet was described as an amazing object by Man-To Hui of the Macau University of Science and Technology.

As far as half a light-year, the comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is following an elliptical path.

The comet is less than two billion miles from the Sun.