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Discovered in August 2001 by the NASA Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) team, 2001 Q4 is predicted to be at least a 3rd magnitude object. However, even active comets like 2001 Q4 can be very unreliable. The orbit of Comet 2001 Q4 does not take it too close to the Sun, in fact on 15 May it will be at its closest point to the Sun at 144 million kilometres, where as on the 6 May it was at its closest to the Earth at a mere 4.8 million kilometres. It is this close proximity to us that will allow for good viewing.
For UK latitudes the comet raced in to the western evening sky after the 6 May close approach, although the last weeks Full Moon hindered most observations. By the end of this week the Moon will no longer present a problem and with weather permitting should allow a good naked-eye view. If predictions of magnitude are less than expected, then the comet will still be visible through binoculars and small telescopes. Observations are made a little more exciting with Comet 2001 Q4 passing near M44, the Beehive cluster, in Cancer .
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