Comet may be visible ... if sky clears
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| Sky & Telescope diagram |
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.