Following a sudden outburst of activity there is now a further comet within amateur telescope range. Comet LINEAR (C/2012 X1) was expected to be about 12th magnitude when close to perihelion next year, but on October 20th it burst into life, brightening by about 5.5 magnitudes to +8.5. It's now predicted to reach magnitude +6 and the edge of naked eye visibility early next year.

Discovery

Comet LINEAR was discovered on December 8, 2012 by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project. The operations nerve centre is located at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) near Socorro, New Mexico. When discovered it was a feeble magnitude +19.4.

Location, magnitude and star chart

During the latter part of October and the start of November, LINEAR is located in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It then moves into Boötes on November 2nd, remaining there until December 6th. During this time the comet moves reasonably slowly against the background stars. For the remainder of October it should be easily visible with medium size telescopes of the order of 200mm (8-inches) or 150mm (6-inches). As it continues to brighten it then becomes a much easier small telescope and binocular target.

In the Northern Hemisphere, LINEAR is well placed for observation towards the east before sunrise. Unfortunately, from the Southern Hemisphere, it's not observable until February 2014. On November 17th, LINEAR passes only 1 degree north of Arcturus (α Boo - mag. -0.04), the fourth brightest star in the night sky.

The finder chart below shows the positions of comet LINEAR from October 17 to December 1, 2013. With one major outburst already, this is one comet definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Comet LINEAR (C/2012 X1) Finder Chart from October 17 to December 1, 2013 - pdf format

C/2012 X1 (LINEAR) Data (at epoch March 11, 2013)

Comet LINEAR (C/2012 X1) Data Table