If you have ever wondered what it is like to discover a comet, now could be your chance. Amateur astronomers are busy watching out for one of these celestial wanderers to appear from out of the Sun’s glare.

Any day now, someone is expected to spot Comet Swan, or 2006 M4 (Swan) as it is properly known, as it moves into the pre-dawn sky. There are hopes that it will be a bright object in binoculars and may even sport a small tail.

Of course, unlike real comet discoveries, astronomers already know that this comet is around and where it will appear in the sky. The comet was detected by two amateurs, Rob Matsoon and Michael Mattiazzo on pictures taken by an instrument called Swan on the Soho spacecraft which spends its entire time monitoring solar activity.

Somewhat ironically, the satellite has become more famous among amateur astronomers for the comets it has spotted than the work on the sun. Indeed some amateurs have got caught up in the hunt for new comets in the Soho images and hundreds have been spotted in this way.

It is a far cry from the traditional comet hunter braving freezing nights to sweep the sky with binoculars but a valid new route for astronomy in this modern, computer-enhanced age. What’s more it is certainly a lot more comfortable.

Comet Swan should be picked up while in the constellation of Leo as a 7th magnitude object. It will move into Ursa Major, far below the bowl of the Plough, according to the Society for Popular Astronomy but will brighten to around 6th magnitude by mid-October when it could even be visible with the unaided eye in exceptionally dark skies. From October 7-10, the comet will pass close to the star Alpha Canum Venaticorum, otherwise known as Cor Caroli.

No doubt we shall return to Comet Swan following its recovery. The image above, by the way, is of a bright comet in a Soho satellite image. You can see its streak just to the left of the Sun which is masked by an occulting disk.