Astronomy

There's a recently-discovered comet that could put on a spectacular show in late 2013 - at its brightest (when it's hard to see because it's really close to the sun), it could be brighter than the full moon, and visible in daytime.

However, predicting comet brightness is notoriously difficult, and this one could end up being nothing spectacular; Comet Kohoutek (C/1973 E1) in 1973 is a famous case of something that was predicted to be brilliant but didn't live up to prediction.

Bill Gray, whom Emily Lakdawalla consulted on the matter, estimates that it has a 30% chance of being awesome, and a 60% chance of being a dud. (And what about that other 10%? He doesn't say.)