New Year's Eve Comet

If you have a clear view of the western sky on New Year's eve after sunset and a pair of binoculars, you can see a comet just 3 degrees to the left of the crescent Moon. Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková is a short period (5.26 years) comet discovered in 1948.

At 7th magnitude it is too dim for the unaided eye. With binoculars it should be easy to see after the sky darkens, even from urban locations. It will set just before the Moon at around 8PM in Austin. A SkySafari view of the event at 7PM from Austin, Texas is shown below.

Content created: 2016-12-29

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