Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) is expected to reach peak brightness of about 4th magnitude during this week of January 12, 2015. The comet is speeding past the Pleiades and the Hyades, two bright naked-eye star clusters in Taurus. The image at top by Alan Dyer shows the little comet framed with these two naked-eye star clusters on the night of January 10, 2015. The comet passes about 7º west of the Pleiades– about one field of view of an average pair of binoculars– on Jan. 18-19.
Dyer says the comet is visible in very dark sky if you know where to look. He suggests finding the comet with binoculars first, then lowering your optics and trying with your eyes. In a city, you’ll have to stick with binoculars because light pollution will easily obscure the comet. Writing at his blog this week, Dyer says that “visually, even through binoculars, just a hint of a tail is visible extending to the left away from the large fuzzy coma, or head of the comet”.
From the icy and light polluted skies of Ottawa, Canada, I can see the comet in 12×36 IS binoculars… it’s an easy target. But I can’t see it visually, nor can I spot a tail with these optics.
Dyer’s additional images below show the comet as captured through a telephoto lens and a small telescope. The little tail of the comet appears to change from hour to hour as gusts from the solar wind sputter the icy and unpredictable surface of the comet.
This might be the best comet of 2015, so head out and have a look for yourself! Here’s a link to a map of the comet’s location this month (from Sky and Telescope).