Skywatchers are getting an early holiday gift in the form of a brightening comet sweeping across early morning skies. This is comet Catalina, in the latter half of its one-way trip through the inner solar system.

Formally known as C/2013 US10, comet Catalina is now climbing the eastern morning sky and emerging in the pre-dawn twilight in the Northern Hemisphere. Observers report that it shines at magnitude 6, just shy of being visible to the naked eye but easy to spot with binoculars. And over the course of the next few days, the comet will glide by two of the brightest objects in the night sky, Venus and the moon, making it a cinch to find even for novice