After a quiet start to the year, Australian sky watchers will be treated to a close encounter with a green comet and a rare winking star.

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková visits our skies around every six years from the outer reaches of our solar system beyond Jupiter.

This year, Comet 45P makes its closest approach to Earth on February 11 as it zips past about 12 million kilometres (or some 32 times the Moon's distance) away from us.

But, although it's close, you will still need good binoculars — and clear weather conditions — to see the green fuzzy ball move across the sky

Late last year before it swung around the Sun, the comet's tail was visible in telescopes, but since it emerged again at the beginning of February there has been no hint of a tail.

Comet 45P comes closest to Earth at 7:30 PM (AEDT) on February 11, but the best time to see it is actually in the early morning, an hour and a half before sunrise, when it is well above the horizon.

Comet 45P (not to scale) on the morning of February 11 looking north-east an hour before sunrise ( Supplied: Ian Musgrave/Stellarium )

By early morning on February 11, you will be able to see the comet through binoculars on the north-eastern horizon roughly between the bright star Arcturus and the bright planet Saturn.

Because the comet is travelling so fast, you will be able to see it move against the background stars over a period of half an hour.

As the week progresses, the Comet 45P will appear further north. On February 15, it is midway between the bright orange star Arcturus and the northern horizon.

The comet rapidly fades as it moves further away from Earth so you'll need a telescope to see it by the end of February.

If you miss Comet 45P, you will be able to catch two more binocular comets — Comet 41P and Comet C/2015 V2 (Johnson) — in May.

Watch the heart of the lion wink

View of Regulus moving behind Moon as seen from Sydney at 00:37AM February 12 ( Supplied: Ian Musgrave/Stellarium )

If you stay up late on the night of February 11 (or get up early on the morning of February 12, depending upon where you live) you'll see another special event — as the bright star Regulus slips behind the Moon.

Occultations of stars are like watching a solar eclipse — except they are rarer and you don't need any special eye protection to see them.

Regulus, the "heart" of the constellation of Leo, is one of the brightest stars in the sky. It also sits very close to the path of the Moon, so about once every 10 years, it slips behind the Moon around once every month for one-and-a-half years. The last time this happened was in 2008.

This time around, Australians get two chances to watch the heart of the lion wink — this weekend and May 4. After that, we won't see this event from Australia again until 2025.

Even though you can see the star with your eyes, it is best seen through binoculars — or a telescope where you'll see the star "wink" as it crosses behind the edge of the Moon and re-emerges from the other side.

But you will need to be in the right place, at the right time. Here's a rundown by location (note: people living in Darwin will see the star skimming along the surface of the moon appearing and disappearing as it passes over valleys and behind a hill rather than disappearing altogether).

Location Time star goes behind bright edge of Moon Time star reappears from dark edge of Moon Adelaide 23:43 ACDT 01:05 ACDT (February 12) Brisbane 23:41 AEST 00:50 AEST (February 12) Canberra 00:34 AEDT 20:11 AEDT (February 12) Darwin 22.40 ACST - Hobart 00:37 AEDT (February 12) 01:58 AEDT (February 12) Melbourne 00:28 AEDT (February 12) 01:51 AEDT (February 12) Perth 20:39 AWST 21:50 AWST Sydney 00:37 AEDT (February 12) 01:58 AEDT (February 12)

Is it a comet or an asteroid?

On February 25 another interesting object, 2016 WF9, is closest to Earth.

By "closest", we mean that the object is over 100 times further from us than the Moon is.

And by "interesting" we mean that astronomers are still not sure if this dark object is an asteroid or a comet.

It follows an orbit similar to comets, but has yet to show any hint of cometary dust or gas emission. It may well be an old comet that has exhausted all its volatile materials.

2016 WF9 is currently in the tail of the constellation Cetus the whale, which is sprawled across the western horizon a hour-and-a-half after sunset.

You will not see 2016 WF9 unless you have a really serious telescope and astronomical camera.