A newly-discovered comet that has been orbiting the sun for many thousands of years should be visible in the skies over Harford County, and around the region, throughout January.
"As we mark the turning of the calendar this New Year's there's an exciting opportunity to view one of the most awe-inspiring objects in the solar system," Tim Phelan, board member of the Harford County Astronomical Society, wrote in an email.
The comet named Lovejoy - formally c/2014 Q2 - was first noticed by Australian Terry Lovejoy on Aug. 17, Harford Astronomical Society President Bob Kesler noted.
Anyone with a decent pair of binoculars should be able to see the comet as it makes its way extremely slowly, at least from our perspective, through the cosmos.
The comet Lovejoy will not fly across the sky like a shooting star, which is typically debris from a comet, Kesler said.
"It will look like a small white puff," he explained. "Night after night, it will change position."
More details on the comet and the best time to observe it are available on Sky & Telescope's website at http://bit.ly/1xgQjR2, Phelan said.
"When you observe this comet, think of the 8,000 year journey it takes to round the Sun and how comets like this may have crashed into the Earth and brought water to our planet some 4 billion years ago," Phelan wrote in his email. "The universe is an amazing place and we have a front row seat to watch it."
Phelan took a photo of the comet Saturday with just a camera and a tracking mount, he said.
Kesler called it a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see this particular heavenly body.
"Once it goes around the sun, it's gone," he said. "It's a real treat to see something like this."
Kesler said he thinks there is more interest in meteors, comets and shooting stars lately. Baltimore-area residents have noticed "fireballs" in the sky at least twice this month, according to local weather reports.
"There are shooting stars every night," Kesler said. "People are more aware of it, too, especially after the one we had in Russia [where a meteor crashed in the city of Chelyabinsk last year]."
New comets, like Lovejoy, are being discovered all the time, he added.
"You can see comets even today with a telescope," he said.