Bad Omen? Green comet appears in the sky on New Year's Eve, is it a sign of things to come?

Comet 45P is a regular visitor.

A comet is becoming visible in the northern hemisphere and may reach naked-eye brightness in the days ahead. The comet, 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková is a green, periodic comet discovered in 1948 that routinely passes close to Earth. It will flirt with naked eye visibility just after the new year.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková is making another pass behind the Sun this New Year's Day, and when it emerges it will brighten, possibly to magnitude 6, which is enough to see faintly with the naked eye from a dark sky location.

The comet is green, and will appear as a fuzzy patch in binoculars. On New Year's Eve, sky watchers can see it easily by looking next to the Moon, which will be low in the west around 6:30 PM.

The comet will pass about 7 million miles from Earth at its closest approach around February 11, but it will not be as bright as it is now. That means the time for viewing the comet will be just after the New Year when the comet will be close to naked eye visibility.

The comet will be bright because its close pass by the Sun heats its surface, causing ice to turn to vapor and form a sort of cloud around the comment, called a "coma."  Light reflects off the vapor, brightening the comet.

There is no risk to Earth from the comet, but some people have associated comets with bad omens. Historically, comets have been blamed for the deaths of powerful people, and the arrival of wars, famine and disease. However, there is no scientific link between the appearance of a comet in the sky and human events on Earth. In fact, at any given moment, at least a couple comets are passing near the Sun and are visible to professional astronomers with advanced, high-tech observing tools.

Comets aren't particularly rare, it's just uncommon for them to be visible to casual observers on Earth. Most comets are so small they require binoculars to telescopes to see from a dark sky location.

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