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Comet PanSTARRS to be visible in North America beginning 3/7

terry107

terry107

Senior member
Get out your binoculars or telescopes! http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/0...be-visible-in-nighttime-sky-later-this-month/

nasapanstaars.jpg


Edit: Here is some observing info for the comet (shamelessly stolen from another site):
These numbers are for the next 10 days. All positions are for 7pm cst. Alt is the height, in degrees above the ground and az is the compass direction with 270 being west.


Date Alt Az Set Time
3/6 -.4 255 7:06
3/7 1.2 257 7:13
3/8 2.7 260 7:20
3/9 4.0 261 7:26
3/10 5.2 264 7:32
3/11 6.2 266 7:36
3/12 7.1 269 7:40
3/13 7.9 271 7:44
3/14 8.4 274 7:47
3/15 8.9 276 7:49


Observing hints:
The position angle (relative to the sun) of the tail goes from 127deg on the 6th to 50deg on the 15th.
The tail will look similar to a jet contrail.
Do not use the 7pm as the absolute time to look. Go out a bit early and give it a go.
Use binoculars or a telescope to see the nucleus. (stay away from the sun)
Watch for outburst! As the comet approaches the sun huge chunks can get blown off greatly increasing its brightness.
 
Last edited:
highland145 said:
Any part of the country?
Click to expand...

Yes, so long as there aren't any clouds in the way. It should be the brightest on March 10th. On March 12th, the comet will be right next to Uranus, so if you have a good set of binoculars or a telescope, you should be able to spot both. The below picture is looking west on March 12th for North America.

PanSTARRS-March-12.jpg
 
Time to break out my Nexstar 5 then, or at least my 10X50 binoculars. I still can't wait for Comet ISON coming in November as it could be absolutely amazing.
 
Here's my best shot. Didn't have much time between it becoming visible and it setting behind the trees.

comet.jpg

If it is clear again tomorrow evening I'll go set up on some open land.
 
We went out tonight, but didn't get much. It was too hazy/lightly cloudy in the western sky. 🙁

My advice: don't bother trying to find it until the sun is completely below the horizon. You won't be able to see it with the naked eye, so take binoculars. You'll need a couple of seconds exposure, if you're trying to take pics.
 
I was able to find it tonight (yesterday evening) but I had to use binoculars. I got a few pictures as well, but they're pretty noisy images. At the zoom I was using and the exposure length, the earth rotates quite a bit. If I had my telescope up I could piggyback the camera on it and track.
 
I took these this evening here in TX. Despite knowing it's exact position I still couldn't spot the comet with the naked eye through the remaining daylight.
Comet%20Panstarrs%20&%20waxing%20crescent%20moon%2050mm%20IMG_9908-crop.jpg


And here's a rushed 250mm shot I snapped really quick right before the comet set.
Comet%20Panstarrs%20250mm%20IMG_9920.jpg


250mm full crop with extreme noise reduction. Uranus is to the lower right of the comet.
Comet%20Panstarrs%20&%20Uranus%20250mm%20IMG_9914.jpg
 
Last edited:
terry107 said:
Get out your binoculars or telescopes! http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/0...be-visible-in-nighttime-sky-later-this-month/

nasapanstaars.jpg


Edit: Here is some observing info for the comet (shamelessly stolen from another site):
These numbers are for the next 10 days. All positions are for 7pm cst. Alt is the height, in degrees above the ground and az is the compass direction with 270 being west.


Date Alt Az Set Time
3/6 -.4 255 7:06
3/7 1.2 257 7:13
3/8 2.7 260 7:20
3/9 4.0 261 7:26
3/10 5.2 264 7:32
3/11 6.2 266 7:36
3/12 7.1 269 7:40
3/13 7.9 271 7:44
3/14 8.4 274 7:47
3/15 8.9 276 7:49


Observing hints:
The position angle (relative to the sun) of the tail goes from 127deg on the 6th to 50deg on the 15th.
The tail will look similar to a jet contrail.
Do not use the 7pm as the absolute time to look. Go out a bit early and give it a go.
Use binoculars or a telescope to see the nucleus. (stay away from the sun)
Watch for outburst! As the comet approaches the sun huge chunks can get blown off greatly increasing its brightness.
Click to expand...
techs, why do you have two accounts?
 
We froze our buns off tonight, but never saw the comet. Too much haze/clouds in the west.

Did get a bitchin photo of Jupiter and four moons, without a telescope, even. 🙂
 
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