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Newly Spotted Comet Will Soon Grace Night Skies!

A newly discovered comet, now approaching the Sun and Earth, could develop into a relatively bright naked-eye object in coming weeks, researchers say. The best views of the comet may be reserved for those under dark skies far from bright lights, but even city dwellers should be able to spot it.

The comet is called Ikeya-Zhang. The latest orbit calculation indicates it will pass closest to the Sun, a point called perihelion, on March 18 at a distance of 47.1 million miles (75.8 million km). After rounding the Sun, the comet will continue moving toward Earth, making its closest approach to our planet, called perigee, on April 28, when it will be 37.6 million miles (60.5 million km) away.

Ikeya-Zhang's expected path across the sky in the coming weeks will greatly favor Northern Hemisphere observers. During most of March on into early April, the comet will be visible near to the north-northwest horizon about an hour after sundown. Bright moonlight may hinder observations during the last week of March.

After the first week of April, with the Moon no longer a factor, the comet will also be visible in the morning sky, rising earlier and getting progressively higher above the northeast horizon each night.

from Spacewatch at Space.com