The comet was spotted last year by NASA’s Advanced Asteroid Collision Warning System.
Dr Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, said “current orbital calculations show it will pass about 8.3 million miles from the Sun”, which would classify it as a comet “circling the Sun”.
The university described the comet as a once-in-160,000-year event.
Dr. Balaji said opportunities to spot the comet may arise “in the days around perihelion, depending on local conditions and comet behavior.”
“As with all comets, their visibility and brightness can be unpredictable,” he added.
Mr Balaji said people living in the southern hemisphere – where the comet is thought to be best viewed from – should “look at the eastern horizon before sunrise, (and) after perihelion, try the western horizon after sunset “.
But Mr Balaji added that while the comet is expected to be “quite bright”, predictions of the comet’s brightness are “knowingly uncertain”, with many turning out to be fainter than originally predicted.
For the Northern Hemisphere – including the UK – viewing can be difficult due to the comet’s relativity to the Sun.
You can check with BBC weather online to see if the sky is clear enough for a possible sighting where you are.
