The first 2015 comet visible to the naked eye can be seen streaking across the sky for most of January, Slate‘s Phil Plait reports.
The comet, C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) will reach its peak visibility on January 7, when it passes about 44 million miles from Earth. It will also be easy to locate, as it will begin its journey across the sky near the foot of the constellation Orion and continue through Taurus and Aries.
The optimal viewing time, Plait wrote, is after 9 p.m. local time, when the comet will be high above the horizon. But as the month progresses and the moon wanes, it should be visible even earlier — and be bright enough even to be seen with the naked eye even in cities with low- to moderate levels of light pollution.
