New 'Nova' Star Explosion Spotted in Night Sky: How to See It (opens in new tab)

See http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/observingbl... for a better article, including a links to a brightness curve and a downloadable start chart. The nova is about magnitude 5, meaning that you can just make it out with the naked eye if you are in a clear dark area far from city lights and know exactly where to look. Most observers not in dark rural areas will probably need binoculars to see it.

This reminded me to look up the naked eye comet predicted for the end of the year.

Sadly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2012_S1 says that expectations have substantially dimmed for it (pun intended), though it should still be a good thing to look for.