Graham captures amazing comet in the sky from on top of a Lancashire village quarry

The comet is visible to the naked eye in July and Graham McLoughlin was in a Chorley village in the early hours of Sunday when he took these pictures.

Graham, who is secretary of Preston and District Astronomical Society, took the images from Denham Quarr,y Brindle.

He explained that the comet is currently visible to the naked eye low down above the north east horizon, and added: "The comet was spectacular and it's going to be around for ten more days."

Graham, who lives in Clayton-le-Woods, said he travelled to the quarry to see it "because it's got good views all over the horizon".

He said the sighting was "probably better than expected" and "almost a once in a lifetime comet to see".

Neowise was discovered on March 27 by the NASA space telescope called Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (or NEOWISE for short).

The comet will come closest to Earth on July 23 - still be about 64 million miles away.

Officially known as C/2020 F3, it can be seen with the naked eye once it has been spotted through a set of binoculars or with the aid of a telescope.

Stargazers say it's the best comet visible from the UK in more than two decades

Hale-Bopp was another unusually bright comet that flew by Earth, reaching its closest approach to our planet in 1997.