Comet C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR) for 7/13-22/2007

This comet isn't all that bright, but has been reported in binoculars under a dark sky. It's reputedly faint and round, with no tail. Though the model magnitude is almost 10, early-July visual estimates put it at more like mag 8, and 6-8 arc minutes across; see the Harvard/CfA Minor Planet Center Comet Magnitudes page.

I haven't found a good chart on the web; a decent one that covers July, as the comet moves from Draco into northern Virgo, is at http://www.cometchasing.skyhound.com/comets/2006_VZ13.gif. But being a wide-field map it can't show the faint stars you'd need to locate a small dim comet.

Here are some maps handy for us in the midwest, for the next few days, 7/13-7/22. The wide-field map has a dot at 11 PM Central Daylight Time ("23h") daily, and the narrow-field map has a dot every hour, with labels at 23h and 00h CDT each night. There's also a three-page PDF with both maps in color, and the narrow-field one in black and white.

Note that the comet will pass near M3 on the evening of July 22nd, though the moon may be too bright by then to see it.

Wide field map, with Draco, northern Bootes, and the Big Dipper (23h CDT nightly):

Narrow-field map through Tuesday night 7/17, with some of northern Bootes, and eta UMa in the Big Dipper's handle (23h and 00h CDT nightly):