Space enthusiasts with their telescopes pointing towards sky are going to get a rare celestial treat in the form of two comets that are scheduled to zip past earth this week. One of the comets will be closer to earth than any other comet since decades.

The bigger comet, as 252P/LINEAR, is more than 700 feet in size. The solar system body surrounded by green cloud of gas will make its closest flyby of earth on Monday at around 5:14 am. During the historic flyby, the comet will come within 3.3 million miles of our planet.

The smaller of the two bodies, Comet P/2016 BA14, will be more than 2.2 million miles away from us while zooming past earth. It will be the closest comet to zip past earth since 1770s. The comet is scheduled to make a closest approach to our planet on Tuesday at around 7:30 in the morning.

“There are many more asteroids in near-Earth space than comets, which are significantly rarer. When a comet does come this close to Earth it is something to get excited about, and take advantage of to learn whatever we can”, said astronomers from the University of Maryland.

Astronomers said that skygazers may see the comet 252P/LINEAR with naked eye. The space body may glow brighter as it flies towards the sun. But still, people from the northern hemisphere may find it difficult to see it as it is going to zoom past too far south in the sky. They also said that Comet P/2016 BA14 will be quite small in the sky and people could see it with a telescope.

The Virtual Telescope, an astronomy website, has planned to telecast live broadcasts of the two comets on March 21 and March 22.