Panstarrs C/2011 L4 sighted

[adamcullen (Adam)]

Hi all, my first post.

Got to see comet Panstarrs this morning (4:45am) for the first time with my 25x100 Astro Binoculars.

I went out the other morning and scanned the southern horizon where Astronomy 2013 indicates it should be, but couldn’t find anything. So, last night, I used the Starry Night program to find exactly where Comet Panstarrs would be at 4:45am, then changed the time back to “now” (about 10pm) and went out with the bino’s and found that exact spot in the sky. I locked off the bino’s on that spot and came back at 4:45 and the comet was just outside the field (a little lower). Not a bad effort though I thought, especially under suburban light polluted skies.

Comet is still quite faint, but has a definite tail and is “furry”. Tail was pointing directly vertically. Optimal viewing is still a month away, so I’m pretty pleased I’ve caught a glimpse this early.

A

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Nice one Adam,

Which part of the sky were you pointing by the way? Constellation....direction?

Cheers

Chris

[adamcullen (Adam)]

I'm tempted to say, "dunno, where starry night told me". It was almost directly due south east, about 5-10 degrees above the horizon.

At about 10pm or 10:30 I positioned the binoculars towards Lupus, in a region between beta-Lupi and epsilon-Lupi.

At 4:45, Panstarrs had drifted just about perfectly into view.

Adam

[adamcullen (Adam)]

Ok, it must have been later than I thought. Starry night showed that I must have been positioning the binos at about 1130.

Tonight I'm setting up the binos just below the omega centuri globular cluster at 10pm, then getting up at 445 again for another view, weather permitting.

[mozzie (Peter)]

good catch adam..i tryed but i'm heavily treed.as you were saying might take the scope to a headland for a look in a month when more favourable

[mozzie (Peter)]

adam now seems to be your best time to see.skysafari has is getting lower towards the sun then below the horizon..guess it's going to be a good comet for northern hemishere...bugger

[adamcullen (Adam)]

Got up at 4:45 again this morning, but was clouded in. No comet for me.

Moz, I think that once it dips below the horizon in the early mornings, we'll find it in the western sky just after sunset. Don't give up yet!

A

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

After a week of cloudy mornings I finally had a clear one this morning at about 4:15, took a little while to find as it was in my main skyglow area - cool little tail visible in binos