Comet Lovejoy, a.k.a. C/2014 Q2, gives observers a reason to brave the cold this winter. The comet makes its closest approach to Earth on January 7 at 0.47 astronomical units (AU) and its closest approach to the sun on January 30 at a distance of 1.29 AU. Lovejoy was fairly bright in December and may reach naked-eye brightness, around magnitude 4, for much of January. This comet has been in our neighborhood before but won’t return for about 8,000 years.

Comet Lovejoy starts the month in Lepus, a small constellation below the feet of Orion. It quickly moves to the right of Orion, about equal with the bright star Rigel around January 5 to 7. As Comet Lovejoy continues to move upward, it will cross into Taurus, with the V-shaped cluster of the Hyades pointing at the comet around January 13. Lovejoy will be wide of the Pleiades cluster on January 19 as it drifts through Aries, and it will continue its upward path from the southeast toward zenith.

The bright full moon will make spotting the comet difficult in the beginning of the month. The moon will be completely full at 8:53 p.m. PST on the evening of January 4 in Gemini. This date is also notable because it’s when the Quadrantid meteors are set to peak (though they’ll be hard to spot with the bright moonlight) and it’s the perihelion, when Earth comes closest to the sun, at 0.98 AU.

In the beginning of January, if you have a clear view to the southwestern horizon, you may be able to spot Mercury and Venus hanging tight before slipping out of view. On January 11, Mercury is less than a degree to the lower right of Venus. Mercury and Venus pull even as they separate a bit over the next few days, and by January 21, when the crescent moon enters the view, the planets are more than six degrees apart—look for Mars to the upper left of Venus. On the next night, January 22, the moon will be even with Mars.

On January 19, Mars will help observers with binoculars or a telescope track down Neptune. The Red Planet will be just 12 arcminutes to the left of faint Neptune, which shines at magnitude 8. On February 1, Venus will have climbed up to be the planet guiding us to Neptune, standing less than a degree to Neptune’s left.

Spring may still seem far away, but Jupiter is leading the spring constellation of Leo the Lion up from the eastern horizon. The moon is beside Jupiter on January 7. Watch the Galilean moons of Jupiter circle around the planet and make new configurations each night, sometimes appearing in front of the giant planet and sometimes disappearing behind its disk.