The long-period comet C/2014 Q2, discovered by Australian astronomer Terry Lovejoy in August, 2014 is about to make a pass across North American skies before disappearing for a very long time.

The comet made it’s closest approach to earth on January 7 at 0.469 AU or roughly half the distance between Earth and the Sun. It crossed the celestial equator on 9 January 2015 and will make its closest approach to the Sun before disappearing for an estimated 8,000 years.

According to astronomers, the comet should be relatively easy to find once you know where it is. Although C/2014 Q2 will be visible to the naked eye, any kind of magnification such as binoculars or a telescope will improve the view and provide much greater detail.

As with most star gazing, the best views will be available where light from the ground is the least. Cities tend to flood the sky with artificial light which can make astronomical objects difficult or impossible to find.

For those who can’t get away from the city lights or who lack the time, equipment or patience to locate the asteroid you can watch online. On Monday, January 11 starting at 1900 UT (5 pm Eastern Time) the Virtual Telescope Project will host a live stream titled “A Comet for Christmas). The virtual telescope project has a variety of features and tutorials designed to allow amateurs to benefit from professional equipment, even if they have little or no knowledge of astronomy.

“The Virtual Telescope Project is an advanced service provided by the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy and managed by Dr. Gianluca Masi, PhD. It consists in several, robotic telescopes, remotely accessible in real-time over the Internet, both for research and fun, available for all. Despite the technologically advanced instrumentation, the system is very easy to use,” according to the website.

For those who don’t want to watch online, or don’t want to watch from work the comet should be easy to find.

“I’ve been using bright stars in Orion and Taurus to guide binoculars – and then my eye – to the comet. Pick a couple bright stars like Aldebaran and Betelgeuse and extend a line from each to form a triangle with Lovejoy at one of the corners. If you then point binoculars at that spot in the sky, the comet should pop out. If you don’t find it immediately, sweep around the position a bit. After you find it, lower the binoculars and try to spot it with the naked eye,” said Bob King of Universe Today.

King says that using binoculars, it’s easy to differentiate from a star “all puffed up with a brighter center.”

To the naked eye, the Lovejoy comet may appear to be only a dim star but through a telescope it will appear large and pale blow with an ion tail and bright nuclear region.

The astronomy magazine Sky and Telescope also has tips on where to see C/2014 Q2 along with updated notes and star charts.

A number of publications and organizations including Sea and Sky, Stardate.org, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and NASA offer regularly updated sky watching calendars.