Brightest comet in 25 years appearing in a sky near you
Neowise streaking across the sky (Christine Fagerlie)
70 MILLION MILES FROM EARTH (FOX 9) - If you’ve been on social media the last few days you’ve likely seen some pretty amazing photos of a comet, streaking across the night sky. That's Comet NEOWISE, and it will continue to captivate stargazers for days to come.
Currently, NEOWISE is about 70 million miles from the Earth, and it is traveling at about 40 miles per second. But don’t worry, it doesn’t pose any threat to Earth.
Comet NEOWISE as seen in Minnesota. (Bill Doms / FOX 9)
The comet, stretching three miles across, leaves behind a trail of gas and dust reflected by the sun, which is the tail you see.
According to experts, the last time a comet this bright was visible to the naked eye was the Hale-Bopp comet in 1995 and 1996.
If you haven’t gotten a look at Comet NEOWISE yet, you’ll want to get away from any light pollution, out where you can see the stars clearly, then look just below the Big Dipper. And do it soon because once it disappears from view, we won’t see it again for nearly 7000 years.