The comet Lovejoy is visible tonight
The last time it passed this close to Earth was 10,000 years ago and won't pass this way again for another 8,000. Tonight it will be near the Pleaides and can be seen with binoculars in the southern sky about 8 pm MST.
Chart of where to spot it:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19103
More info:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/binocular-comet-lovejoy-heading-c2014-q2-lovejoy-1211142/
http://www.space.com/28116-comet-lovejoy-january-2015-skywatching.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
I was imaging it until about five minutes ago when clouds rolled in.
Here's my shot from last night, the Pleiades are lower right.
It's a collection of stuff I've put together on the cheap from Craigslist, yard sales, Cloudynights and Ebay, I've had some astro gear for a long time and I just keep trading around, sell one piece and use the money to buy something else I want, once the initial depreciation has hit astro gear, scopes, mounts, eyepieces and so on tend to keep their value quite well. Cameras are improving all the time, I'm swapping up right at the moment from a Canon 350D to a Sony NEX C3 which will have twice the megapixels, dramatically better sensitivity and lower noise and yet I'll get more for the Canon than I just paid for the Sony.
My mount is an iOptron Cube Pro with an equatorial wedge I made out of plywood. I really like the Cube Pro, I can pick the whole rig with camera on the tripod up with one hand and walk around the yard with it.
Bummer 
perfectly good thread by throwing in a nasty image. 
& Rec !!!
Lovejoy has been putting on quite a show and will continue to be visible with binos or telescope through the end of January. Earlier, it was all but wiped out by the full moon but as the moon waned and rose later, Lovejoy was clearly visible.
I'm fortunate in that I live in a rural VA county where the Potomac River joins the Chesapeake Bay. We have VERY dark skies here; the Milky Way is quite prominent and on nights when the humidity is low, the Andromeda Galaxy is visible with the naked eye.
I have observed Lovejoy for the past two weeks -- missed a couple of nights because of rain and sleet. Mostly checking it out with my binoculars. Two nights I pulled out my telescope (12-inch Dobsonian reflector) and got in close. Last night (16 January) it was showing a bit of elongation. I checked it out tonight with binos; rain moving in after midnight and cloudy tomorrow (18 Jan); clearing during the day on 19 Jan. I plan to use the scope several nights next week -- 19 - 23 Jan.
By the way -- for you who are not amateur astronomers -- you don't need a telescope to enjoy the heavens. A decent pair of binoculars will show you a LOT. You don't need to spend $1,000 on image-stabilized or Zeiss binos. By the same token, don't get a pair of $29.95 WalMart Bushnells. Plan on spending $100+ for a decent pair of binos. I use two pair:
-- Nikon Action EX 10 x 50 ($125 - $179 from various online retailers)
-- Leupold Cascade 10 X 42 ($200 and up online)
Do NOT get zoom binoculars -- even the best ones are inferior to fixed mag binos.
The numbers on binos are (1) the magnification and (2) the size of the main lens (the objective lens). So -- 10 X 50 means the binos magnify the object you're looking at 10X and the front lenses are 50mm in diameter.
-- The bigger the front lens, the more light the bino gathers, thus, the brighter objects will appear.
-- The higher the magnification, the larger objects will appear.
CAUTION: You can find binos that are 12X, 16X, 20X -- do not get any of these. All of us have a bit of shake in our hands. The binos magnify that shake. If you have a very steady hand, you can get away with 12X binos but, for most of us, 10X is about the highest mag we can hold steady.
I find myself reaching almost all the time for the 10X42 Leupolds -- star-gazing, bird-watching, and checking out shipping on the Bay. 10X50's are a bit heavy.
If you'd like to explore the heavens, get a decent pair of binos and these books:
-- Binocular Highlights, by Gary Seronik
-- Skywatching, by David Levy
Also, get yourself a good planisphere: My favorite is Ken Graun's "Guide to the Stars." A planisphere is a big circle with dates and times around the edge -- set the date and time and the planisphere shows you the position of the major objects in the sky.
After a year or so with binos, your books, and a planisphere, you will have learned where things are in the sky, and, you will have observed a complete rotation of the Earth through the seasons. THEN look at buying a telescope. I recommend an 8-inch Dobsonian as a starter scope.
