Comet may be visible ... if sky clears
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March 6, 2013 |
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If the skies clear over the next several days,
folks here could get a glimpse of comet
PanSTARRS, which has been visible in the
southern hemisphere for the past few weeks and
will be visible in the western sky of the
northern hemisphere beginning tomorrow, though
the best days for viewing are expected to be
next Tuesday and Wednesday, March 12-13.
The comet, discovered in 2011 and named for the
telescope that first spotted it, the Panoramic
Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System in
Hawaii, made its closest approach to earth, 100
million miles, yesterday.
The comet will be obscured by the sun's glare
during its earliest appearance in the northern
hemisphere, but it should be easy to find, as it
will be visible near the moon in the western sky
just after sunset. A pair of binoculars will
provide the best view, but the comet should be
visible to the naked eye.
The Sky & Telescope diagram above is based on
the comet's path at 40-degrees north latitude,
about the border between Nebraska and Kansas; in
Bonners Ferry, at 48 north latitude, the comet
will appear a bit lower.
For the best viewing, wait until about 30 to 45
minutes after sunset on a clear night and look
west in the vicinity of the waning moon. On
March 11, the new moon, when the moon is not
visible, will occur; while the handy reference
will not appear, the darkened sky will reveal PanSTARRS at its brightest.
If you look too early, the suns glare will
obscure the comet, too late the comet will have
traversed back into the southern hemisphere.
The comet will dim over time and disappear as it
travels farther past the sun.
Shortly after PanSTARRS disappears, another,
much fainter comet is expected to be visible in
the morning skies over the northern hemisphere.
Comet Lemmon, which will appear as a dim, fuzzy
spot to the naked eye, should be visible in May.
A pair of binoculars will bring out the long
tail and bright head of the comet.
By far the brightest comet expected over the
northern hemisphere in 2013 is due in late
November and early December, when Comet Ison
makes a hairpin turn around the sun, which is
expected to furiously vaporize its tail, making
that comet as bright as the moon ... unless it
burns up completely in the passage. |
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