'New Year's Eve Comet' and More: Three Flybys Will Kick Off 2017 New Year






NASA's NEOWISE mission has detected one definite comet that will pass by Earth in the first week of 2017, as well as a second celestial object, which could be either a comet or an asteroid, that will also fly by.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The "New Year's Eve Comet" that's been streaking across the sky this December isn't the only otherworldly visitor ringing in the new year in Earth's neighborhood.
Wednesday (Dec. 28), NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted a video about Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková, which has been growing more prominent in the sky since Dec. 15. On New Year's Eve, the comet will be visible through a telescope or binoculars near the crescent moon, sporting a blueish-green head and thin, fan-shaped tail, NASA researchers said.
But there will likely be two more comets (or a comet and an asteroid) in store for skywatchers in early 2017, NASA said. (Plus, Comet Catalina will still be visible with magnification in the morning sky.) [Best Close Encounters of the Comet Kind]


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