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© Gregg Ruppel Comet Lulin passing just north of the bright star Zubenelgenubi (alpha2 Librae) on 2/6/09

Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3) is approaching Earth for a 38-million-mile close encounter on Feb. 24, 2009. At the moment it is glowing like a 6th magnitude star, dimly visible to the unaided eye and a fine target for binoculars and backyard telescopes.

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."