A 38-year-old Italian working at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona has discovered a new comet currently passing through the solar system.
The comet, which is expected to pass by Earth and Venus this summer, has been named after the young scientist Andrea Boattini, an expert in asteroids and comets.
The heavenly body, which he spotted a month ago using a telescope with a 1.5 metre diameter, has recently been confirmed as a comet and will from now on be called C/2007 W1 Boattini.
At the moment the comet is incredibly difficult to see from the Earth. It is 4,000 times dimmer than a star that can been seen with the naked eye on a clear night.
Boattini estimates that for a few weeks this summer it will be visible from earth using binoculars.
