The Tails of Comet NEAT (Q4).

Comet NEAT (Q4) is showing its tails . As the large snowball officially dubbed Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) falls toward the inner Solar System , it has already passed the Earth and will reach its closest approach to the Sun this coming Saturday. Reports place the comet at third magnitude , making it easily visible to the unaided eye to northern sky gazers observing from a dark location just after sunset. The above image was captured last Saturday from Happy Jack, Arizona , USA . Visible is a long blue ion tail , a blue coma surrounding the comet's nucleus , and a shorter but brighter sunlight reflecting dust tail . Q4 will likely drop from easy visibility during the next month as it recedes from both the Earth and the Sun. Another separate naked-eye comet, Comet Linear (T7) , is also as bright as third magnitude and should remain bright into June.