Comet Lulin will be closest to Earth on the 24th of February. Sharp-eye viewers with dark, rural, skies, will be able to spot the comet as a dim, fuzzy star. Binoculars and small telescopes however might reveal more details including a possibly striking tail.

The comet was photographed by Chi Sheng Lin using a 16-inch telescope at the Lulin Observatory at Nantou, Taiwan on the 11th of July 2007. It was however a 19-year old student, Quanzhi Ye at Sun Yat-sen University in Mainland China who first recognized the new object on three images that were taken by Lin.

At first it was thought to be an asteroid but new images taken a week later revealed the telltale presence of a faint coma.

This discovery was part of the Lulin Sky Survey project to explore the various populations of small bodies in the solar system, especially objects that possibly could pose a hazard to the Earth. As such, the comet has been christened Comet Lulin, more formally known to astronomers as Comet C/2007 N3.

This is the brightest comet since the surprising outburst of Comet Holmes more than 15 months ago and in the coming weeks will become favorably placed in the evening sky. During mid-to-late February it will probably be about magnitude 5 or 6, making it perhaps visible to the naked eye in dark, rural locations and easily observable in binoculars or small telescopes.

This image of comet Lulin was made Feb. 2, 2009 by Rolando Ligustri using the RAS Observatory in New Mexico. The green ball is the comet’s atmosphere, or coma, measuring about 311,000 miles (500,000 km) wide, or three times the diameter of Jupiter. The coma contains cyanogen (CN) and diatomic carbon (C2), two gases that glow green when exposed to sunlight. Credit: R. Ligustri (www.castfvg.it), RAS Observatory.

How to view Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3)

You’ll be best viewing Comet Lulin with a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. Look for a dark place with no surrounding lights and no obstructions. Bring stuff to keep you warm and a skymap that will guide you to the location of the comet. You can get a skymap for your specific location at Heavens Above.

C/2007 N3, Comet, Comet Lulin