This is the LAST week to spot stunning Comet Neowise before it vanishes for 7,000 years – how to see it

THIS week is one of your last chances to see Comet Neowise before it vanishes for thousands of years.

The naked-eye comet has been a treat for stargazers in the past few weeks but now it's heading away from us and towards the Sun.

Neowise reached its closest point to Earth on July 23.

Astronomers don't think the space rock will be coming this close again for around another 7,000 years so luckily it was caught on camera.

Neowise was only discovered by Nasa in March.

At it's closest it was around 103 million km away.

That's just under four times further away than the Moon is.

The comet will now fade away from view for the rest of July.

However, that doesn't mean you don't have a chance of catching a last glimpse.

Neowise has been visible from mid-northern latitudes, including the UK and the US.

Look below The Plough constellation one or two hours after sunset and you may be able to spot the comet with its icy tail.

If there is poor visibility in your area due to the weather or light pollution then head over to the Virtual Telescope Project's YouTube and watch it live.

Neowise is heading away from us on a journey to loop around the Sun.

What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?

Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa…

  • Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
  • Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
  • Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it'll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
  • Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn't vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
  • Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vapourising)

 

In other news, incredible images captured from the surface of Mars have been remastered in stunning 4K by genius space fans.

Scientists think a huge asteroid shower rained down on the Earth and Moon 800 million years ago.

And, astronomers claim to have found a mysterious space structure spanning 1.4 billion light years across called the South Pole Wall.

Have you ever seen a naked-eye comet? Let us know in the comments…

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