New Year’s Eve comet: How to see Comet 45P on Saturday night

The Cosmos will be ringing in the New Year in style with a comet appearing right next to the moon on New Year’s Eve.

Comet 45p, also known as Comet Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková, has been slowly moving across the night sky over the past few weeks, and on New Year’s Eve it will be easy to spot as it meets up with the crescent moon.

The comet will be visible shortly after sunset and will remain above the horizon for a few hours before setting with the moon.

Comet 45P is too dim to see with the naked eye, but people should be able to spot it easily with the help of a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, as long as the weather cooperates.

The comet will look different than a star or planet, giving off a blueish green color with a fan-shaped tail.

Those stepping outside on New Year’s Eve to look for the comet will also be able to see several planets in the same part of the sky.

Venus will be the easiest planet to spot as it is the brightest natural object in the night sky after the moon.

Mars will appear higher up in the sky than Venus, giving off a reddish color helping to set it apart from stars and other planets.

Neptune will also be easy to find for those that already have their binoculars or telescope out, appearing extremely close to Mars on New Year’s Eve. Despite Neptune being the fourth largest planet in the solar system, it is too far away from Earth to be visible with the unaided eye.

If you miss out on seeing Comet 45P on New Year’s Eve, there will be another window of opportunity to view it early in 2017.

Shortly after the start of the new year, the comet will disappear from the night sky as it passes behind the sun.

It will be visible once again in February as it moves away from the sun, appearing the sky in the hours before dawn.

The comet is expected to appear even brighter in February; however, it will still be too dim to see without the help of a telescope or pair of binoculars.

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