Comet Lovejoy

The beautiful Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 enters its best time of viewing, will glow brightest in a week’s time. Is expected be visible from ‘from light-polluted city suburbs’.   Take a look at the path of the comet…

Above: Comet Lovejoy is leaving a magnificent trail of glowing green ice, passes near M79 at the end of 2014.  Credit Andre van der Hoeven.

Top image: Comet C/2014 Q2.  Credit Gerald Rhemann

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy, discovered by comet hunter amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy on August 17th, 2014, (it’s his 4.5th comet) it approaches its passage perihelion through the solar system in the coming week.

Comet Lovejoy  map

 

 

According to astronomers, comet Lovejoy should hit magnitude 4.1 in mid-January, would be easily seen with binoculars, is currently around 43 million miles from Earth and is traveling at around 15 miles a second.

Comet Lovejoy  map(4)

Comet Lovejoy map(2)

 

via universetodaydailymail