The comet spotted last week in the constellation Cetus should continue to brighten as it approaches the Sun. That's the upshot of the orbital elements calculated on Monday by Brian G. Marsden (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory). Marsden's data suggest that Comet Ikeya-Zhang, C/2002 C1, could become as bright as 4th magnitude by mid-March, but it will be difficult to locate low in the western evening sky after sunset. During the first week of April, the comet skirts north of the Sun and enters the morning sky. Skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere will likely get their best views in late April, when the comet makes a slow trek from Cassiopeia into Cepheus and then Draco for those using binoculars and small telescopes.

The comet is already visible in 7x50 binoculars. Mike Begbie of Harare, Zimbabwe, got his first look on Sunday evening, February 3rd. He found it to be magnitude 8.2, noting that the head (or coma) appeared "spherical, but surprisingly condensed."

According to Marsden's calculations, this comet reaches its closest point to the Sun (perihelion) on March 18th. At that time it will be midway between the orbits of Venus and Mercury, at 0.51 astronomical unit (76 million kilometers) from the Sun. Be sure to check the observing section of SkyandTelescope.com in the coming weeks for further details.

Comet Ikeya-Zhang, C/2002 C1

Date	RA 2000	Dec.	Elong.	Mag.	Const.
0h UT	h   m	°   '	°
Feb 1	0 08.3	–17 51	45	8.9	Cet
Feb 3	0 11.6	–16 52	44	8.8	Cet
Feb 5	0 15.0	–15 51	43	8.6	Cet
Feb 7	0 18.4	–14 48	43	8.4	Cet
Feb 9	0 22.0	–13 43	42	8.2	Cet
Feb 11	0 25.7	–12 35	41	8.0	Cet
Feb 13	0 29.4	–11 24	40	7.8	Cet
Feb 15	0 33.2	–10 11	39	7.6	Cet
Feb 17	0 37.1	–08 54	38	7.4	Cet
Feb 19	0 41.1	–07 33	38	7.2	Cet
Feb 21	0 45.2	–06 09	37	7.0	Cet
Feb 23	0 49.2	–04 41	36	6.7	Cet
Feb 25	0 53.3	–03 09	36	6.5	Cet
Feb 27	0 57.4	–01 32	35	6.2	Cet
Mar 1	1 01.5	+00 10	34	6.0	Cet

The object's dual name recognizes the two comet hunters who first found it on February 1st: Kaoru Ikeya of Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, and Daqing Zhang in Henan province, China. Zhang described the comet as a small, 8.5- magnitude glow 3 arcminutes across in his 20-cm (8-inch) reflector.

If the name "Ikeya" rings a bell, it should. Between 1963 and 1967, Kaoru Ikeya discovered or codiscovered five comets. One of them, Comet Ikeya-Seki, was the famous naked-eye Sungrazer of 1965. But little had been heard from Ikeya (at least outside Japan) until he made his sixth comet discovery last week. "He is the phoenix!" says astrophotographer Shigemi Numazawa of Niigata, who adds that Ikeya, now age 58, manages the Ikeya Optical Lab, a supplier of telescope mirrors to Japan's discriminating observers.