This March 2 photo shows Pan-STARRS as seen from Queenstown, New Zealand.

(AP Photo/spaceweather.com, Minoru Yoneto)

A newly-discovered comet whizzed by earth in its closest approach ever - and you still have a chance to get a good view of it.

Comet Pan-STARRS, named for the telescope used to spot it in 2011, passed within 100 million miles of earth Tuesday. By the weekend it will make its closest approach to the sun.

Your best chance to see Pan-STARRS will be next Tuesday and Wednesday. The Associated Press explains on March 12 and 13 the comet will appear next to the crescent moon at dusk in the western sky.

Comets are basically blobs of frozen gases and dust. NASA says you can think of them as "dirty snowballs."

Professional and amateur stargazers alike have captured incredible photos of comets in action. Check out the slideshow below for some of our favorite photos.

2013 has already been a spectacular year for the cosmos.

The Quadrantids meteor shower wowed stargazers in January.

The world saw a meteorite break apart in the skies of western Russia on Friday, Feb. 14. The explosion was powerful enough to shatter glass and shake buildings, injuring more than one-thousand people in the region.

(PHOTOS: Explosion Over Russia)

A few hours later, giant telescopes watched as Asteroid 2012 DA14 made the closest flyby to earth ever recorded.

(MORE: 7 Massive Meteor Craters)

The sky show of 2013 is far from over. Pan-STARRS puts on its show for the Northern Hemisphere this week. People in the Southern Hemisphere have been able to spot Comet Lemmon during the past few nights.

PHOTOS: Awesome Comets in Action