91Èȱ¬

One of the largest comets ever seen is making its way from the edge of our solar system towards us, edging closer over the next ten years.

At 93 miles across, it is around 31 times larger than the comets usually seen by astronomers.

It was first spotted way back in 2014, but only now - seven years later - have scientists been able to identify it.

Named Bernardinelli-Bernstein after the scientists who discovered it, it was first mistaken for a tiny planet known as a dwarf planet.

As it moves closer to our planet, scientists will be able to observe it and learn more about the formation of the solar system.

One of the astronomers who discovered the comet, Gary Bernstein, said "We have the privilege of having discovered perhaps the largest comet ever seen - or at least larger than any well-studied one - and caught it early enough for people to watch it evolve as it approaches and warms up.

"It has not visited the solar system in more than 3 million years."

Just like planets, comets orbit the Sun.

They are different to asteroids however, because of what they're made of.

Asteroids are typically made of rocky and metal materials.

Whereas comets are a bit like a massive snowball, made up of ice and dust, and some rocky material.

You can recognise them in the night's sky by their long tails which can stretch for millions of miles.

According to the US's space agency Nasa, there are currently 3,743 known comets.

Usually comets are about 2 to 3 miles across, around the size of a small town.

But this one is kind of unbelievably big...

It's around 93 miles across - that's the same distance between the cities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh!

The comet is not a danger to us at all on Earth.

Its orbit is very, very far away! Meaning it won't collide with the Earth.

In fact, it's so far away that astronomers estimate that it takes millions of years to circle the Sun - whereas Earth takes around 365 days.

Over the next decade, as Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein gets closer to the Sun, scientists will be able to observe it more closely.

It will be at its closest point to us January 21, 2031.

And at this point, it will still be about a billion miles away from the Sun.

That's far out, man!

What do you think about the giant comet? Let us know in the comments!