Observing the newly discovered blue comet

Astronomers around the world are eager to capture images of Comet Lovejoy, with its glowing green tail, in the first days of 2015.

Comet Lovejoy image taken from Singapore on December 29, 2014. Photo: Justinngphoto.com

Comet Lovejoy's official name is C/2014Q2. It was named after a recent discovery by Terry Lovejoy, who lives in Queensland, Australia.

Space said the comet will make its closest approach to Earth (about 70.2 million km) on January 7. Weather permitting, Lovejoy can be observed with binoculars or telescopes, as it moves to the left of the constellation Eridanus.

In this image taken by astrophotographer Justin Ng on December 19, 2014, the comet glows green with a long, narrow tail. Cyanogen and diatomic carbon in sunlight may be responsible for Lovejoy's color.

According to some forecasts by scientists, at the time of the comet's peak brightness during the week, it will even be visible to the naked eye in extremely dark skies and far from city lights. After that, Comet Lovejoy will move away from the Sun and Earth and quickly fade.

According to VnExpress