Comet Pan-Starrs

[Joe Angrisani]

There's a naked-eye comet visible in the western sunset if anyone cares to try an observation.

It is low in the west just after sunset. Tonight, March 12th, the Moon will help guide you. You'll need a low western horizon - the comet is currently only about 10 degrees above the horizon 30 minutes after sunset. Look low in the west about 20 minutes after local sunset, and try to find the TINY sliver of the young cresent Moon above the glow where the Sun has dropped below the horizon. Comet Pan-Starrs will be just above the Moon tonight (the 12th). As the Moon climbs in it's path east through the sky, it will appear a little below the Moon tomorrow (the 13th).

Here's a finder chart. The comet will look like a fuzzy star with a stubby tail pointing up from the horizon. Tail size will depend on how low you can observe it as every minute means a slightly darker sky. Binoculars are probably best.

256774

[Lee Schierer]

It would be great to see it now if you would just figure out how to get rid of all the clouds.....

[Joe Angrisani]

Yep. We're about two hours from sunset here southwest of Denver and we have patchy clouds and a thin haze layer. Doesn't look good for diffuse objects.

I haven't seen it yet (but haven't looked, either). If it's as long as the artist's rendering in the chart (3 Moon diameters), it should be easy to see when conditions cooperate. From photos I've seen taken in the last few days, I'm expecting it to be much shorter.

The comet doesn't really move much over the next few days, so keep trying. It will track a little north, more toward the sunset glow. It's just that tonight the Moon is a VERY GOOD stepping stone to find it. Tomorrow just a good stepping stone. Then the Moon will have gone around in it's orbit and will have risen out of the sunset sky.

[Bill Huber]

I saw it tonight just before the clouds came in, COOL....

[Joe Angrisani]

Just saw it. Got lucky with the western cloud layer, but the foothills worked against me, taking a good 5 degrees above my true horizon. Low and still caught in a very bright sky, it's not going to look like some classic comet photo.

Anyone trying from the west coast: the Moon has already climbed out of the position in the chart (that was probably more for the east coast). For any Pacific friends, look left of the Moon at the same elevation. Perhaps 4 Moon diameters left of the Moon.

[Lee Schierer]

LOML and I walked out last night because the sky cleared just before sunset. We located the comet very low in the sky to the west and watch it descend below the tree line. It was bright enough to see with the naked eye once you knew where to look, but is much better with binoculars.

[Wade Lippman]

Saw it last night.
A bit north of where the sun set, a short distance above the horizon.

They said to look for it 45-60 minutes after sunset, but it didn't get dark enough to see it until about 75 minutes after sunset. It went below the horizon about 90 minutes after sunset.

Except for simply seeing it, it is pretty disappointing; so don't feel too bad if you miss it. We have a clear view of the west from our deck; otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. There is supposed to be a good one in October.

[Lee Schierer]

We went out tonight since the sky was clearing as the sun set there were some thin clouds, but we managed to see the comet anyway. Here's a photo I took of the comet.257341 I used a canon T2i with a 300 mm zoom lens.

[Joe Angrisani]

Very nice, Lee. Even with the cloud layer, it looks like you caught both the debris trail and the ion trail. For those who don't know: The lower, brighter trail is sunlight reflecting off dust and debris venting from the comet, and it shows where the comet has been in it's path. The higher, dimmer trail is ionized gasses being blown off the comet by the Sun, and it points away from the Sun regardless of the comet's path. They're close together because Pan-Starrs is so close to the Sun.

They could also be two dust trails if the comet has opened a second large vent. I don't know the particulars of what this one is doing.

What were your shutter, lens and ISO settings?

[Lee Schierer]

What were your shutter, lens and ISO settings?

f 6.3, 1/400 ISO 500