Rejoice , stargazers , for we have a double helping of practiced news for you ! Firstly , it seems that a comet that ’s long been slinking its way through the cosmos incognito has of late been discover ; second , if you ’ve arrive a pair of opera glasses , you should be able to see it without the aid of any of those monumental , high - tech telescope .

intend as C/2017 O1 ASAS - SN , it was first spotted back in July by the Chile - found All Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae ( ASAS - SN ) system , hence the name . As you may have reckon , this observational system is supposed to be front for the spectacular deaths of high - mass stars , but as it turns out , a comet is too spectacular not to pay attention to .

According toSpace.com , the comet was spotted move from the constellation of Cetus ( the Whale ) to the W of Eridanus ( the River ) back in early August . It ’s since shifted into Taurus ( the Bull ) , and has been dancing through the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters in September .

Right now , it ’s between Auriga and Perseus , the Charioteer and the Hero , and it ’s channelise towards Camelopardalis ( the Giraffe ) . Throughout this astronomic journey , its beautiful fag end could be observed streaking off into the shadows .

On October 14 , it will reach its perihelion – the close point in its eccentric sphere to the Sun – at a not inconsiderable distance of 224 million kilometers ( 139 million miles ) from our local wizard . This means that it ’ll be within the orbit of Mars , tight enough for anyone with a yoke of binoculars to see if light pollution levels are miserable , and the Moon is n’t out .

The best time to see it will be on October 18 , though . It is at this level that , due to its orbital route , the comet will be closest to Earth despite having already started to move away from the Sun .

The luminousness of the comet has peaked and waned rather erratically ever since it was discover before this yr . Right now , it ’s a fairly promising magnitude 8 object , one that appears as a muzzy streak of Inner Light in the dark sky .

If you ’re lucky , you may see a flash or two of jet in the comet ’s tail or its gaseous envelope , the coma . This is due to the sublimation ( transformation of a square straight into a gas ) of diatomic atomic number 6 within the comet ’s nucleus as it approaches the Sun .

If you could see it , we ’d certainly urge it ; its stretched orbit mean that it will next visit the Sun several thousand years from now .

[ H / T : Space.com ]