Can you see panstarrs at night

It will fade in brightness over the next few days, but at the same time will be higher in the sky at sunset. Two comet-watching dates to prepare for now will be next Tuesday and Wednesday March 12 and On those evenings, the thin crescent moon will be close to the comet in the sky. Depending on the size and direction of the comet's tail, the moon may actually be silhouetted against the tail on March The comet and the galaxy will both shine at about 5th-magnitude on that date.

We are used to comets being named for their discoverers, but in recent years there have been many comets discovered by teams rather than individuals. When first discovered, comets are assigned unique designations based on the year and month of their discovery. The year marker is easy to figure out, but the month is a bit complicated, because astronomers use a letter based on the half-month of the discovery.

For example: the letter 'A' denotes the first half of January, 'B' is for the second half of January, 'C' for the first half of February, and so on. Panstarrs was about 10 degrees above the SW horizon elevated because of the mountains in Sonora, Mex. I would guess a magnitude of 1. Through 15X70 binoculars, tripod mounted, it appeared to be the size of a golf ball, was colored pale orange deepening as it drew nearer the horizon , and had a white, distinct tail resembling a horse's tail, tapered at the comet end, spreading out into nebulous strands at the other end.

A grand sight at moonset here in the high desert. Spotted the comet tonight from my townhome west of Honolulu. Official sunset here was at PM Hawaii time. Saw the comet around 7 PM to the left of the thin crescent moon.

Initially I had to use my Orion StarBlast 6" rich field telescope to pick it out of a light hazy sky. Bright head with a faint fan-like tail sticking more or less straight up from the horizon. It finally sank out of sight behind the Waianae mountain range at PM. Along the Columbia River, with the Cascades Mtns. And true we couldn't see the comet with binoculars, but settled for photographing the 31 hour old moon against the landscape. Close inspection of the photos revealed a very faint glow with a short tail to the left of the moon.

Through 7X35 binoculars it looked like a slightly elongated, blurry "star" between 1. I doubt that very many non-amateur astronomers especially those living in cities will be able to discern this relatively inconspicuous "speck" in the bright evening twilight.

Confirming sight of PanStarrs from Panama. It was easier this time because it was located almost midway between the crescent Moon and the Sunset point at pm EST, along the ecliptic. We have some trouble with a long low cloud covering the view, so we waited for the comet to leave the lower part of the cloud. And there it was. We followed from to EST, as it got dimmer. Clearly saw the center spot and a short fan-out tail, visible over a brown-ochre background. We could not get a decent picture, we had a converted lifecam h webcam and a digital camera with an eyepiece adapter, but it was just too low light to trigger the cameras.

We also had an old film camera but did not have an adapter for the telescope. But anyway, my wife and I were extremely happy to see it for the first time. By the way we have to go a cow field in the country side of Panama near a colonial town to see it.

Seven cows were our witnesses! We used Cartes du Ceil and Stellarium to help us find it. I wish luck to all who tried to see it. Although I couldn't see it with the naked eye, it was obvious as soon as I held up my 7x50 binocs. It had a sharp bright core, and a longer tail than I expected, probably only half a degree.

It's not Hyakutake, but it's easy to find and quite lovely. I was expecting little more than a dim blob, but I saw a pretty little comet. Very impressive! There was no chance at all of seeing it the previous two days, due to the weather. My sister's birthday was on Wednesday. After having dinner at her and her husband's house, I drove about a mile to a spot with a good western horizon. I wasn't too optimistic about seeing the comet but there were some large holes in the clouds to the west and eventually I could see the young crescent Moon.

I scanned downwards to the right with Celestron Ultima 10x50s and, lo and behold, about one-third of the distance between the horizon and the Moon I caught sight of a fuzzy star-like point of light. My Burgess 15x70s produced a much better view. The coma was rather bright but I could not see the comet with my unaided eyes. A line of low clouds obscured the comet so I called my wife to let her know that I'd been successful.

I also called one of my observing buddies who lives about an hour to the north and was told that the sky was completely cloudy there. After a few minutes the comet emerged from the clouds. It played peek-a-boo once again as more clouds crossed its path a bit later. Eventually it disappeared into the haze. I saw the comet for a total of about 25 minutes.

When I got back to the party, I had a piece of cake and some ice cream to celebrate. I probably wouldn't have been able to see the comet at all had I not gone southward for my sister's birthday party.

Saw it this evening Mar 14th about 30 mins after sunset. This was the first reasonably clear night we've had in almost two weeks. Still, the sky was hazy. Comet was too dim to be seen with the naked eye and faint but distinct in Orion Sceni 10x50 binocs. Great in a low power wide-field telescope view. Tonight was first night in several that I was able to spend any real time looking. I found comet fairly quickly with binocs, lost it while trying with naked eye, eventually located it again with binocs.

Definitely naked eye visible by that point around MDT, or around 50 minutes after sunset. From Maui we were able to see the comet at sundown and saw the tail as well. After the sun went compleatly down it was no longer visable. It was below the moon seen from the Westside of Maui in Lahaina. Viewing it looking toward Lanai it was below and to the south of the moon. It was a beautiful sight and clouds just happened to be dissapating for us to view it with telescope.

Evening of the 14th was not productive here in South Georgia. Skys over Sumter county were hazy in the west. Then, as twilight dimmed to the level that we could see the comet on recent nights, a large plume of moist cloudy air began to intrude directky into the area where we were searching. By the time of best viewing last night between to pm the whole lower western sky was clouded beyond any chance of visual contact.

Took half a chance and went out right on time on the 12th. No luck ay first. Then using the map and binocs I had a decent view. As at it darker I moved to my back yard and even grabbed picture. Then tonight fighting on shore clouds I caught it again.

Seemed brighter then into the clouds. This from Hemet, Ca. Pic posted tonight. I'm no professional. Evening viewing on the 15th was better than the 14th. Sky was much clearer, although we are still appalled at the low elevation obstructions to viewing from dust, smoke, etc. Albert did not see the comet for certain last night, but careful binocular work by Nancy allowed her to locate it twice before it set. This contact was made knowing exactly where we had looked on the previous nights.

We doubt anyone could find it now if they did not have a reference from earlier nights work. All our viewing was from an open knoll in a cotton field with an irrigation boom about yards out from the viewing point, which provided a great reference tool to restart each night.

The interval between twilight obstruction and setting is now very small. Her sightings Friday night were between and pm. The comet was so faint that we could not see it over atmospheric conditions at all with the naked eye. The image seemed to come and go behind atmospheric conditions we could not even detect. Will be surprised it can be found at all tonight. All of our posted observations have been from a single location of approximately 31 deg.

Challenged myself to find this comet in the western sky over Temecula, CA. Went to a new library lot and parked; used a Sky Scout to locate Algenib, which I knew from maps the comet would be near. After scanning the sky with 10 x 50 binoculars I finally saw it pictures do not do it justice! I have seen many of the brightest comets during the last 35 years, but this one was absolutely amazing!

Very bright relatively large fireball with a highly visible upward-sweeping tail; it could be compared to a sparkler of sorts. Have to comment that this comet is one of the best I have seen definitely worth the search! I have read other descriptions and maybe it is because it is so near the horizon at dusk, but this comet is awesome; even for the few minutes I got to see it before the clouds closed in, very impressive. I will follow this one every chance I get. Got another good look at Comet Panstarrs tonight.

It was much lower on the horizon than a week ago. The head was several magnitudes brighter this time and the tail a bit more luminous. It was an easily visible naked eye object at PM but only the head was visible. I'm at latitude It seems that morning observations will be possible towards the end of this month? I never saw the comet naked-eye but he did. Its coma was a bright, star-like point.

It was quite low in the sky by then and had acquired a pale orange hue as a result. By then, it was only a bit more than one degree above the horizon. I also observed the crescent Moon, M41, M42 and the Sword of Orion, M44, and M45 that evening using my mm TV refractor and a 14mm Explore Scientific 82 degree eyepiece 38x and Jupiter at and x using the 17" classical Cassegrain.

The comet was positioned farther to the west and seemed to be noticeably fainter than on March the 14th. Seeing was very good through the cold arctic air mass typical of this region in winter, and the comet was visible to the naked eye without too much difficulty, despite the fairly bright twilight. Although estimating the comet's brightness under such conditions is difficult, I believe the recent estimates of around magnitude zero, or a bit fainter, are about right. Through 7X35 binoculars the coma appeared a bit larger and more diffuse and the fan-shaped tail more prominent though still quite short.

Visually, the object barely gives a hint of its true glory as revealed by photographs. With such large lenses, the tail is easily visible even though the sky is still somewhat illuminated, even at P. By the time it is really dark, the comet is so low in the sky from here at 30 degrees, that I am looking through many miles of dirty air that dims the comet.

I can no longer see it without binoculars, but could on the 12th. I have had a great look at Punster for the last 3 nights, March 18, 19, 20 here in Nebraska starting around pm. I was unable to see it without the help of a pair of binoculars. Thanks to Sky and Telescope for the guidance. I was unable to find it without the help of a pair of binoculars 25x I was able to sweep the comet up in the western sky around p. EDT UT with my 8x42s and then with my 15x70s.

I replaced the 35mm with a 14mm Explore Scientific 82 degree eyepiece and got a good look at its central condensation at 45x. The central condensation was bright and the dust tail seemed to be wider and less uniform than on last Tuesday.

I could see a wisp of the comet through the tree limbs until p. EDT UT. The Argo Navis altitude-azimuth reading at the time was approximately 16 degrees and degrees but I'm unsure how accurate that was. Constant Contact Use. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact. Jamie Cooper. Viewers should try to find an unobstructed, cloudless spot away from city lights and look just above the horizon in the west. A few days later the sun's glare will make the comet invisible, but it will reappear on March 12 or 13 near the crescent moon so get your cameras ready!

The object will then be visible through the rest of the month, fading away in April or after. View Iframe URL.