Is the comet visible with the naked eye or does one need to have a telescope? (Maybe it’s finally time for me to get some of that software that shows what is in the sky for any given time-date-location combination…) -Sally
Still cloudy where I live, so I can’t tell you anything firsthand. But yeah, supposedly it should be visible with the naked eye tonight and for the next several nights.
You want to try to be somewhere with a low western horizon (no trees or buildings or mountains in the way). Just after the sun sets, look above where it set, very low in the sky. I believe the comet is currently going to appear slightly to the left of where the sun set, though each night it is going to be more to the right than it was the previous night.
The comet will be low in the sky, and will set itself not too long after the sun does. The darker the sky gets the more obvious it should be, but it will be setting at the same time, so that will tend to offset that. The best visibility will probably be fairly early in twilight, before the sky is completely dark.
You’re looking for a little fuzzy thing. Based on the photos I’ve seen, it has a smallish tail that will be stretching upward, away from the sun. If you can dig up a pair of binoculars it will improve your view a lot.
Good luck!
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/45501603814.
