Comet Lovejoy To Visit For Christmas

This Christmas, Santa will be delivering more than just toys, especially to all the astronomers who have been good this year. Comet C/2014 Q2, otherwise also known as Lovejoy, is slated to make it's appearance this month around Christmas. The comet is supposed to reach a brightness level of the fifth magnitude during this period, making it easy to spot for the naked eye in the night sky.

Comet Lovejoy is named after it's discoverer, the Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy. This is his fifth and most recent cometary find. He is reported to have found it when it was still in the fifteenth magnitude. However, the comet's brilliance has increased by many degrees since it was discovered. In fact, comet Lovejoy is also believed to be hurtling across the space at breakneck speed in a northward direction.

Astronomers have charted the comet's travel through space. They estimate Lovejoy to steadily keep heading toward a northwest direction from the southern location of the constellation called Columba the Dove. Lovejoy is expected to spend the last week of December near the constellation, Lepus the Hare, before moving on to Orion.

Although astronomers are fairly certain about the path that the comet Lovejoy is likely to take, they still cannot predict the exact date and time of it's appearance with absolute certainty. However, astronomers have predicted that Lovejoy should be at its brightest when it reaches Lepus. It is at this time that the comet is slated to be at its sixth magnitude; those living in the northern hemisphere will probably be able to spot Lovejoy in the dark winter night during late December.

It's that time of the year when looking up at the night sky, one can see the beauty that nature chooses to gift us with. Comet Lovejoy, in its orbit of the sun, has travelled millions of light years to be this close to Earth. After this, it is predicted to return after 8,000 years! This year, more than most, one has reason to look up at the aw- inspiring vision of Lovejoy streaking across the clear night sky and perhaps ponder of one's place in the stars.