Last year, the comet was spotted by NASA’s last-ditch warning system for an asteroid impact.
dr. Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, said that “current orbital calculations indicate that it will pass about 8.3 million miles from the Sun”, classifying it as a comet “circling the sun”.
The university described the comet as a once-in-160,000-year event.
dr. Balaji said opportunities to spot the comet may arise “in the days around perihelion, depending on local conditions and the behavior of the comet.”
“As with all comets, its visibility and brightness can be unpredictable,” he added.
Mr Balaji said people living in the southern hemisphere – where the comet is predicted to be best viewed – should “look towards the eastern horizon before sunrise, (and) after perihelion, try the western horizon after sunset.”
But Mr. Balaji added that while it is expected to be “quite bright,” comet brightness predictions are “notoriously uncertain,” with many ending up dimmer than originally predicted.
For the Northern Hemisphere – including the UK – observing could be challenging due to the comet’s relativity to the Sun.
You can check with the BBC weather forecast online to see if the sky is clear enough for possible sightings where you are.
