"Lulin’s closest approach to Earth, 0.41 a.u. (61 million km), occurs on February 24th, when the comet may be at a peak of magnitude 5. By now it's high up by late evening."
Comet Lulin will come this month
FIRST REPORTS OF NAKED-EYE VISIBILITY: Comet Lulin is now visible to the naked eye from dark-sky sites. "This morning, Feb 6th, I noticed a faint smudge above Zubenelgenubi," reports Jeff Barton from the Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus in West Texas. "I then trained my 9x63 binoculars on the fuzzy patch. Yep, nailed it! I was thrilled to finally bag Comet Lulin without optical aid."
Another naked-eye sighting report comes from Martin McKenna of Maghera, Northern Ireland: "I went out for a look at Comet Lulin this morning, Feb. 6th, before dawn with my telescope and binoculars. The Moon was very low, so I stood within the shadow of my house and tried to see the comet without optical aid. Using averted vision, I was able to glimpse the comet perhaps a dozen times! It looked like a large grey patch of light very close to Zubenelgenubi. The sight gave me a warm glow on such a frigid frosty night."
Source: http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_lulin_page7.htm
February 7th: Its reported magnitude is now 6.1.
After moving about 1° per day at the start of February, by February 11th Lulin is creeping westward at 2° per day On that date it crosses into Virgo and passes within a quarter degree of Lambda Virginis. But there's bad moonlight in the early-morning sky from about February 7th through the morning of the 15th or 16th.
On the night of February 15-16 (look around midnight, just before moonrise at your location), Comet Lulin will pass 3° north of Spica. By now the comet’s speed has increased to 3° per day.
On the night of February 23rd, in a moonless sky and near its peak brightness, Comet Lulin is passing 2° south-southwest of Saturn.
Lulin’s closest approach to Earth, 0.41 a.u. (61 million km), occurs on February 24th, when the comet may be at a peak of magnitude 5. By now it's high up by late evening.
On the night of February 25th the comet goes through opposition, nearly 180° from the Sun in our sky. Will there be an "opposition effect" brightening of its dusty coma and dust tail?
And it's now speeding along at just over 5° per day! That's about 1 arcsecond every 5 seconds of time, enough to show obvious motion during a short telescopic observing session. Similarly, that's 1 arcminute per 5 minutes of time if you're using binoculars.
After that Lulin moves away from both Earth and the Sun, so it fades quickly. The evening of February 27 will see it at 5th or 6th magnitude within 1° of Regulus. Moonlight starts interfering again around the 28th.
Source: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html
