A comet appear to have exceptionally brightened in the night sky , as it moves closer to the Sun – and it may even become visible to the naked eye .

Called PanSTARRS ( C/2017 S3 ) , it was seen with a brilliant immature comatoseness – a cloud of dust and gas surrounding the comet – around July 2 . Just two days in the first place , it had been 16 times dimmer , suggesting it is being heated by the Sun .

“ Comet PanSTARRS ( C/2017 S3 ) , which had been chillin ' at magnitude 12.5 , experienced an outburst some time on June 30th , rocket to magnitude [ about ] 9.5 overnight,”Sky and Telescopenoted . They added that the brightness and size of the coma stay to increase , a “ trusted sign of a gas blast from the gush ” .

The comet will reach its W.C. point to the Sun on August 16 , within the orbit of Mercury , so there is a fortune it could become even brighter in the dark sky . The best scene are expected around August 4 and 5 , after which its proximity to the Sun and day will hamper views .

Onspaceweather.com , astronomer Michael Jäger‎ of Austria said the coma of the comet was about 4 arcminutes astray . That equates to about 260,000 kilometers ( 160,000 sea mile ) , which is about twice the size of it of Jupiter . Yep , that ’s pretty freehanded .

PanSTARRS ( C/2017 S3 ) was first spotted last year , hence the “ 2017 ” identification within its name . It now appears to have a tail behind the karyon , or essence , of the comet . From the northerly hemisphere , you should be able to spot it with a scope .

The comet is on a very elongated sphere around the Sun , with some suggestions this may be the first clock time it has infix the intimate Solar System . It likely originated in the Oort swarm , the vast cloud of comet that surrounds our Solar System .

No one is quite certain what will happen when it approaches the Sun . It may pass a magnitude of 4 , which would be bright enough to see with nude eye from a dark sky land site . But if bursts like this again , it could become even more visible .

If it come through , it ’ll then make its way out of the Solar System . Who have a go at it when , or if , we ’ll ever see it again .