Forget the New Year's Eve fireworks, NASA has announced that a comet currently zooming through the inner Solar System will be so bright over the next week that we should be able to see it in the night sky with binoculars.
The comet was first detected by NASA's NEOWISE mission in October, and its trajectory is currently taking it on a safe pass by Earth as it approaches the Sun. But as it zooms by, it should be so bright between now and January 14 that we'll be able to see it using just binoculars, and maybe even with the naked eye.
But for keen skywatchers, it should put on a hell of a show. If you want to watch it as it whizzes by, the best place to view it from is the Northern Hemisphere next week, and you should look to the southeastern sky shortly before dawn.
http://www.sciencealert.com/a-comet-is-zooming-past-earth-right-and-you-should-be-able-to-see-it-with-binoculars
