Paul Chodas, from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies, said that there is a good chance that the object will be visible from Earth using a good pair of binoculars. Nonetheless, he noted that there are uncertainties about this since the brightness of the comet is notoriously unpredictable.
"Finding C/2016 U1 NEOWISE will be a battle between spying an elusive fuzzy low-contrast coma against a brightening twilight sky. Sweep the suspect area with binoculars or a wide-field telescopic view if possible," advised avid stargazer David Dickinson for those who want to see the celestial object.
From the northern hemisphere, the comet will be in the southeastern sky shortly before dawn during the first week of the year but the object is expected to reach its maximum brightness during the second week of 2017.
It will move farther south everyday and will get closest to the sun inside Mercury's orbit on Jan. 14 before it will head back out of the outer solar system following an orbit that lasts for many, many years.
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