#ISS astronaut captures mind-blowing video of Comet Neowise soaring past Earth

A huge comet fizzing past Earth has been captured in dramatic footage recorded from the International Space Station.

Posted to social media on Tuesday, the timelapse video shows the icy object Neowise trailed by its dazzling white tail.

Viewers may be forgiven for thinking the comet is heading towards Earth in the clip, but this is just a trick of the eye.

In fact, Neowise is currently soaring past Earth in a flyby that is expected to last all week and lead to bright sightings from Earth and the ISS.

The video was captured on July 5 from one of the space station’s many external cameras, and posted online by citizen scientist Seán Doran.

Footage and photos from the ISS are available for free online, allowing anyone to download and edit them.

Seán compressed seven minutes of real-time video into a 20-second clip.

His edit shows Earth spinning below the ISS before Neowise rises from beyond the horizon.

The footage also captures bright blue noctilucent clouds – also known as high altitude “night shining” or “space clouds.”

These appear when sunlight shines off of ice particles in the upper atmosphere during astronomical twilight.

Neowise was only discovered by NASA in March.

It will come within 103million km of Earth – about four times further from our planet than the Moon – during its closest approach on July 23.

The comet should be visible from the northern hemisphere this month, which includes the UK and the US.

People have reported seeing Neowise with the naked eye but binoculars will still be very useful.

It’s currently said to be visible from mid-northern latitudes just before sunrise and after sunset.

Right now, Neowise is moving westwards from the constellation of Auriga. By mid-July it will have moved into Lynx and should be visible all night.

There are many smartphone apps that can point you in the right direction of constellations in the sky.

They include Night Sky on iOS and SkySafari on Android.