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Comet
C/2001 A2 (LINEAR), which split into two pieces sometime during
late April, is growing brighter as volatile ices in the fragmenting
nucleus are exposed to solar radiation. Binocular observers say
its visual magnitude is now between 5 and 6 -- barely visible
to the naked eye from dark sky observing sites. The crumbling
comet is heading for a 0.78 AU close encounter with the Sun on
May 24th; no one knows how much brighter it might become by then.
Southern hemisphere sky watchers with modest telescopes or binoculars
can monitor the dynamic comet after local sunset near the feet
of Orion.