Comet Lovejoy set to dazzle Jan. 7

By Zain Haidar

A celestial surprise is coming at the end of the New Year's first week, and the man behind its discovery has an interesting background.

Australian Terry Lovejoy has a prolific record among amateur astronomers.

To date, the Queensland native has discovered five comets, all using relatively simple equipment compared to what you'd find at a professional observatory.

Lovejoy's latest sighting, C/2014 Q2, was spotted on Aug. 17 from the astronomer's roof in Brisbane, Australia. Lovejoy's comet is back in the news as it draws closer to Earth, providing a nighttime show to observers with binoculars and telescopes.

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Now dubbed Comet Lovejoy, the celestial body is surprising astronomers by brightening at a quick pace, CBS News says.

And there's more in store for nighttime viewers.

At its current levels of brightness, Lovejoy can be spotted with the naked eye.

Comet Lovejoy started off at magnitude 15 brightness and has since reached magnitude 5, the brightness necessary to be seen without the aid of a telescope. On the astronomical magnitude scale, lower numbers indicate more intense brightness.

As National Geographic reports, comet Lovejoy should hit magnitude 4.1 sometime mid-January, which would mean that sightseers could spot traces of the comet "from light-polluted city suburbs."

Some observers were able to spot Lovejoy in late December as it reached magnitude 5.3. In photos taken by astronomers, Lovejoy glows green. This striking color is due to two gases emanating from the comet: cyanogen and diatomic carbon, which both glow green when sunlight passes through them.

According to CBS News, Lovejoy will be closest to Earth on Jan. 7. After that time, Lovejoy will start to move away from Earth and lose its intensity, but astronomers predict that observers will still be able to catch glimpses of the comet throughout January.

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