The Year Of The Comets In 2013

From March 12 through 24, 2013, about 30 minutes after sunset, be sure to go outside and look to the western skies. You just might see Comet PanSTARRS with the naked eye. The best dates for viewing this comet may be March 12-13. The window of visibility is expected to fall in the middle of this month, for those located in the northern hemisphere. Look very low in the western sky.

“Two other key dates are March 5th when the comet comes closest to Earth (about 100 million miles away) and March 10th, when the comet comes closest to the sun,” according to NASA Science News.

Sky & Telescope will have updates of this astronomical event.

Comet PANSTARRS is one of the 13 Must-See Stargazing Events in 2013.

Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) will reach the next perihelion on March 10, 2013. “The comet was discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescope located near the summit of Haleakala, on the island of Maui in Hawaii.”

The Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) will come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on November 28, 2013. Comet ISON could be the brightest in known human history.

For those of us that are beginners to the stargazing hobby, we may need a gadget like the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium. To locate a star or planet, select the object’s name from the menu and follow the directional arrows through the viewfinder. SkyScout tells you when you are on target. If it’s that easy I need one now!