Comet K2 might be the largest object Earth has ever seen. Even at that distance, sunlight is warming the frosty comet's coma, which envelops a solid nucleus within an 80,000-mile diameter. A Hubble image was captured of K2 in late 2017 when it was 1.5 billion miles from the Sun.

There will be an incredible event happening on Wednesday night in the skies. An enormous comet will be passing through the solar system at the same time as a supermoon, the brightest and biggest full moon of 2022. NASA expects the comet to make its closest approach to Earth on July 13 when it is nicknamed K2.

It is about 18 to 100 miles wide, with the best visibility expected on July 14. As of May 2017, the Hubble Space Telescope detected the K2 comet about 2.4 billion kilometers from the sun, between Saturn and Uranus' orbits.

According to NASA, the K2 comet entered the solar system's planetary zone at the furthest point. We believe that the K2 comet originated from the Oort Cloud, which is a spherical layer of ice with temperatures of -440 degrees Fahrenheit. It is located near the outermost part of our solar system. 

Oort Cloud is thought to be the source of the majority of long-period comets, which pass around the sun for more than 200 years. Initially a city-sized comet of ice and dust, the comet may have been gravitationally expelled from the Oort Cloud, beginning a voyage that included a passing visit to the Earth that spanned millions of years.

It might be difficult to spot the comet at first, despite its massive size. On July 13, the comet will reach its closest approach to Earth, but it will still be around two Earth-sun distances.

A professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland who specializes in comets, Quanzhi Ye, said it could have been seen by the naked eye if it had arrived half a year earlier or later. 

During the evening of July 14, you should look for a dim patch of light, which is likely the tail of K2, with a small telescope or binoculars. You'll want to look for it around 11 p.m. EST for a first-hand look at K2.

You can still view the comet with a telescope if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, however, as it moves toward the sun near the end of the year. On Thursday at 6:15 p.m. EST, you can watch the K2 comet on Livestream. 

During the evening and morning of July 13, the supermoon will also be visible. The Virtual Telescope Project is live streaming the event on Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST. The brightest part of the moon can make it hard to see fainter objects in the heavens, such as summer starts and the K2 comet, without the right telescope.