So You Want To See Comet Panstarrs And You Don't Know How To?

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Position 20th Feb 2013, 1900hrs EST (0900 hrs UT)

Inspired by Suzy's original post for another bright comet, here is a thread for those who are new to astronomy and would like to catch Comet Panstarrs (C/2011 L4). You will need a low horizon without viewing obstructions for this one.

The further South you are the higher this comet will appear in the sky when viewed at the set time.

Chart for early evening (Brisbane) taken from Starry Night v6.4.3.

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Chart taken from Starry Night v6.4.3

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Position 23rd Feb 2013, 1912 hrs EST (0912 hrs UT)

Chart taken from Starry Night v6.4.3

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Position 24th Feb 2013, 0518 hrs EST (1918 hrs UT)

Chart taken from Starry Night v6.4.3

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

Well the wait is nearly over for me now, this time next week PANSTARRS should be visible at sunset.
The wait has been made even longer by all the tantalising pics that have been posted.

I'm hoping to get a few clear evenings, I wont have much of an inspirational horizon to use as a foreground but if I can image it it'd be my first comet imaged.

[SteeDee87 (Steve)]

Hey there, so living in brisbane I haven't really had much of a chance to check out anything let alone these comets. Are any of these still visible of an early evening?

[lostnumber]

Looks like we might have a clear night here in Brisbane, probably the third time in the last month. Is PanSTARRS still visible here?

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by lostnumber

Looks like we might have a clear night here in Brisbane, probably the third time in the last month. Is PanSTARRS still visible here?

Not after dark until about July 8, by which time it will be really dim - mag around 16. At the moment it is up during the day, but it would take a lot of skill to find it.

[Suzy]

Comet Lemmon is gone too.
I missed the last two weeks of seeing it due to poor weather here in Brissy so I didn't even get to see it develop a tail in my binoculars or scope. Didn't even get to see Panstarrs either because of it.

Jarrod, did you get to see Panstarrs yet? What's it like?

[astroron (Ron)]

So You Want To See Comet Panstarrs And You Don't Know How To?
I do
Get on an Airoplane and head north
Cheers

[Liz]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Comet Lemmon is gone too.
I missed the last two weeks of seeing it due to poor weather here in Brissy so I didn't even get to see it develop a tail in my binoculars or scope. Didn't even get to see Panstarrs either because of it.

Jarrod, did you get to see Panstarrs yet? What's it like?

What a bugger Suzy!! I saw PanSTARRS late Feb, and was bful in little scope and binocs. Missed it tho in early March when I was on the cruise - was out of the loop as to when as so light when Stellarium said it was there. Didnt realise at this stage that people were seeing it at twilight, it was that bright!!

[Liz]

Originally Posted by astroron

So You Want To See Comet Panstarrs And You Don't Know How To?
I do
Get on an Airoplane and head north
Cheers

that would be great!! Tough choice though, do you go now for Panstarrs, or Nov/Dec for Ison????

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Liz

that would be great!! Tough choice though, do you go now for Panstarrs, or Nov/Dec for Ison????

Liz, Probably ISON would be better if predictions come to fruition.
Cheers