A comet that hasn’t been seen in decades will be visible in April.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said comets are the frozen leftovers resulting from a formation of the solar system that are composed of dust and rock.
The sizes of comets vary, ranging from a few miles to tens of miles wide.
As comets orbit closer to the sun, they can heat up and emit gases and dust into a head that then becomes what looks like a trail.
The comet 12P/Pons-Brooks takes 71 years to fly around the sun, according to NPR. On April 21, the comet will reach the point in its orbit when it will be closest to the sun.
According to Space.com, 12P/Pons-Brooks is especially known for its flare-ups with some of its most recent happening on Oct. 5, Nov. 1 and 14, and Dec. 14 of last year and Jan. 18 of this year.
The comet’s outbursts also give it a horseshoe shape that looks like horns, which leads to its nickname the “devil comet.”
The latest appearance of the “devil comet” will also occur simultaneously with the total solar eclipse on April 8 and will be visible in the sky during the event.
The comet was named after the two astronomers who discovered it centuries ago.
Jean-Louis Pons was a French astronomer who was known for being one of the best stargazers in history to spot comets without the help of the advanced telescopic technology commonly used today to find comets far out in space. Between 1801 and 1827, Pons discovered 37 comets, a record that still has not been broken.
Pons discovered the “devil comet” in 1812.
The same comet was accidentally discovered decades later by British-born American comet observer William R. Brooks, who would spot 27 different comets during his lifetime.
Brooks would discover the “devil comet,” then known as the Pons comet, in 1883. He believed it was a new comet until the first orbital calculations were made, and now the comet bears the surnames of both observers.
According to NASA, there are about 3,910 known comets.
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