GREEN COMET IN BRIGHT MOONLIGHT

GREEN COMET IN BRIGHT MOONLIGHT

The visibility of Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) continues to improve. Currently shining at magnitude +5.0 underneath the feet of Orion, it is expected to more than double in brightness by mid-January 2015. This puts it just above the threshold for naked-eye visibility and allows photographers to record the comet using only a camera--no telescope required. John Ashley did just that on Dec. 30th:

"I took a midnight hike to align Comet Lovejoy with the Huckleberry Mountain fire lookout in Glacier National Park, Montana and took this picture using a Nikon D750 camera," says Ashley. "The 66.7% illuminated Moon washed out the comet's tail, but the greenish snowball was still quite lovely - as were the occasional auroras in the opposite direction."
The comet's atmosphere, which looks like a snowball lofted above the fire lookout, has a verdant color because it is rich in diatomic carbon (C₂), a gas which glows green in the near-vacuum of interplanetary space.
Observers should look for the comet passing through the constellation Lepus the Hare south of Orion. Consult these finder charts from Sky & Telescope. For accurate pointing of telescopes, an ephemeris from the Minor Planet Center is available.

From SpaceWeather.com