That's when the weather appears most cooperative. Bring binoculars, an astronomer recommends.
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Comet Pan-STARRS is seen over the western horizon and just above Mount Taylor, from Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday evening.
Named Pan-STARRS, the comet should be visible for the next week or so, said Virginia McSwain, an assistant professor of physics at Lehigh University whose doctoral degree is in astronomy.
Of course, the weather has to cooperate. Ray Kruzdlo, meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Mount Holly, N.J., said a front passing through the region tonight could mean cloudy skies.
"I think we're going to see mainly clear skies tomorrow," he said this afternoon. "At least for the next five days it looks like Thursday night would be the best night."
Visible low in the western sky for up to an hour after sunset, the comet will appear higher in the sky each evening -- but also grow more faint, McSwain said.
"My advice is to find a location where you can see the western horizon shortly after sunset, while it's still twilight," she said this afternoon from the Bethlehem school. "It may help to bring binoculars."
Comet-gazers' view should also be unobstructed by trees, McSwain said. And as with all night-sky viewing, the darker the skies, the better.
Pan-STARRS' name is an acronym for the telescope in Hawaii used to discover it two years ago: the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System.
Although billions of years old, Pan-STARRS is making its first-ever cruise through the inner solar system. The ice ball passed within 28 million miles of the sun Sunday, its closest approach to our star and within the orbit of Mercury.
California astronomer Tony Phillips told The Associated Press the comet did not appear to decay during its brush with the sun, even though it encountered 10 times more intense solar rays than what we're used to here on Earth.
Last Tuesday, Pan-STARRS made its closest approach ever of Earth.
It is one of two comets expected to be visible from the northern hemisphere this year. In November, the comet ISON should be even brighter.
"It is expected to be easily visible with the naked eye," McSwain said of ISON.
That one "is due to reach its peak brightness around November," also above the western horizon.