Comet Swan and its 11 million mile long tail will be visible in the night sky from tonight and you may be able to see it with the naked eye, astronomers say.
The ball of ice, discovered in April by astronomer Michael Mattiazzo from Australia, has already passed the Earth but is getting brighter as it approaches the Sun.
It will be best viewed from the southern hemisphere, but those in the northern hemisphere will still be able to see it low on the horizon in the pre-dawn hours.
Swan is currently about 53 million miles from the Earth and is expected to be a 'significant' comet in terms of visibility, according to the European Space Agency.
The space rock, discovered in April by astronomer Michael Mattiazzo from Australia, has already passed the Earth but is getting brighter as it approaches the Sun
The green-tinged ball of ice and dust visits the inner part of the solar system once every 11,597 years and has a long blue tail stretching 10 million miles behind it.
Currently moving from the southern to the northern skies, it is just faintly visible to the naked eye, but current estimates suggest that, by the end of May, it could be significantly brighter – if it survives that long.
The more material ejected from the comet as it warms up on its way towards the sun, the more sunlight it reflects and the more visible it becomes.
Comets are fragile and often break apart as they approach the Sun - this happened to Comet ATLAS last month after it was also predicted to become very bright.
Comet Swan is now entering the 'danger zone' and will reach its closest point to the Sun on 27 May – at this time, the solar heating will be at its maximum
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