Oh, wow.

We have a comet coming!

Comet Pojmanski.

This being a recently discovered comet that wasn't supposed to amount to anything, and has decided to do otherwise.

I love comets during strutting season. Seeing as how I'm up that early anyway...

So. Most of this is stolen verbatim from Space.com:

You folks in the Southern Hemisphere can see it right now. Those of us on the other half the planet need wait three or four days.

Quoting from Space.com...

"Currently, Comet Pojmanski is shining at around magnitude 5, which is roughly about the same brightness as the faintest star in the bowl of the Little Dipper. Sharp-eyed observers in a dark, clear sky can actually glimpse it without any optical aid.

The comet is located in the zodiacal constellation of Capricornus, the Sea Goat. Beginning Feb. 27, skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere can try locating it, very low above the horizon, somewhat south of due east about 90 minutes before sunrise. You can use Venus as a guide on this morning: the comet will be situated roughly 7 degrees to the left and slightly below the brilliant planet (the width of your fist held at arm's length and projected against the sky is roughly equal to 10 degrees).

As viewed from midnorthern latitudes, Comet Pojmanski will be positioned a little higher above the horizon each morning at the start of morning twilight. While it's only 5 degrees high on Feb. 27, this quickly improves to 10 degrees by March 2; 16 degrees by March 5 and 22 degrees (more than "two fists" up from the horizon) by March 9."

They go on to tell us what to expect...

"In the early morning sky it can be readily picked up in binoculars looking like a small, circular patch of light with a bluish-white hue and an almost star-like center.

The comet will passing closest to Earth on March 5, when it be 71.7 million miles (115.4 million kilometers) away.

In small telescopes the comet's gaseous head or "coma" should appear roughly 1/6 of the Moon's apparent diameter as seen from Earth (an actual linear diameter of 209,000 miles or 335,000 kilometers). It will also likely display a short, faint narrow tail composed chiefly of ionized gases.

Well-known comet expert, John E. Bortle of Stormville, New York compares the view of Comet Pojmanski to that of an "apple on a stick; typical of dust-poor comets."

After March 5, the comet will be receding from both the Sun and Earth and rapidly fade as it heads back out into space, beyond the limits of the outer solar system."

No, this won't be a great show like we've had in recent comet passings. But since I expected decades before getting a chance to see another one at all, this is a great bonus.

I've marked my calendar...