How To See Comet Lovejoy Tonight (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by Theresa , Thursday, January 08, 2015, 13:27

Comet Lovejoy, glowing at 4th magnitude, is entering its best two weeks. It's nicely placed high in the evening sky before moonrise for your binoculars or low-power, wide-field telescope. The comet may be dimly visible to the unaided eye under excellent dark-sky conditions — if you know exactly where to look!

Comet Lovejoy, C/2014 Q2, has begun its best two weeks for skywatchers. Tonight (Thursday the 8th) we get about a two-hour window of darkness between the end of twilight and moonrise for those of us in the world's mid-northern latitudes. Each night after tonight the Moon rises nearly an hour later.

Comet Lovejoy is currently 4th magnitude, just about as bright as it's going to get. Use the finder chart at the bottom of this page to pinpoint its location among the stars. Although 4th magnitude would technically make this a naked-eye object, its diffuse fuzziness means that most viewers, who live under light pollution, will still need binoculars.

FULL STORY