Space is full of wonderful things, and if we take just a tiny break from our busy daily lives and look up at the night sky, we could see something amazing – like a comet.

While it won’t be visible to the naked eye, earth is getting ready for a celestial handshake with comet P/2016 BA14, the third-closest fly-by the planet has ever seen.

Tipping its hat to us from about 3.6 million kilometres away, it will be at its closest point to earth at around 16:30 South African time – and it is actually the second to pass earth in recent days.

It is believed that P/2016 BA14 is a twin to 252P/LINEAR, which flew past earth at a distance of 5.3 million kilometres on Monday, making it the fifth closest fly-by ever.

In case you were wondering, the closest comet ever to pass earth was Lexell’s Comet, which missed earth by “just” 2.2 million kilometres in July 1770.

But what makes this event so special, is that this particular commet won’t pass by that close again for at least another 150 years. So we are pretty safe from total destruction until then. That said, there could be something lurking in the depths we haven’t detected yet.

“March 22 will be the closest comet P/2016 BA14 gets to us for at least the next 150 years. Comet P/2016 BA14 is not a threat. Instead, it is an excellent opportunity for scientific advancement on the study of comets,” explained Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Center of NEO Studies (CNEOS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

If you want to get a glimpse of P/2016 BA14, Virtual Telescope will be hosting two free online sessions to do just that. Normally, the website is a place where people can rent time on remotely-controlled telescopes, but this occasion is so special, it will make the view freely available to anyone who wants to watch.

“On 22 March 2016, comet P/2016 BA14 Panstarss will make a truly historic close encounter with our planet, reaching a minimum distance from us of about 3.6 million km. While this distance is absolutely safe, it will make P/2016 BA14 the third-closest comet ever in history. At Virtual Telescope we will show this comet live, online, so that everyone can have a look at this record event from the comfort of home,” explained Virtual Telescope.

[Source & Image – Nasa]