Comet Pan-STARRS

John R · #1 Posted **Mar 13, 2013, 3:50 AM**

There is a comet visible in the United States right after sunset and low in the western sky. Tonight was the first time I actually saw it and photographed it. I used the crescent moon to locate it. The first shot is from a school not too far from house and it is up on a hill and has a good view of the western horizon. The second shot is a cropped version from the high resolution shot.

KevinFromTexas · #2 Posted **Mar 13, 2013, 5:57 AM**

Nice. I went out to see it. I went up to a nearby parking garage. The light pollution was pretty bad, though. I saw the moon and tried to locate the comet, and now that I see the location of it in your photos I'm thinking I probably did actually see it, if only faintly. About what time did you take those?

John R · #3 Posted **Mar 13, 2013, 1:05 PM**

Kevin, those were taken about 8:18 to 8:20 PM. I tried to find it the night before from my house and within my block where there are fairly unobstructed views of the western horizon. However, without the moon as a reference, I couldn't find it the night before. Even last night it was still dim enough that I wasn't 100% positive I was seeing it, until I uploaded the pictures.

KevinFromTexas · #4 Posted **Mar 13, 2013, 8:24 PM**

Hmm. I'm thinking I'll go back tonight and just photograph the moon and area to the left of it and see what I get. If nothing else it'll be a nice bike ride.

xzmattzx · #5 Posted **Mar 14, 2013, 3:30 AM**

Thanks for the pictures. I was looking for it tonight when I had a chance to be outside, but it was before twilight, and there were some scattered clouds. Do you happen to know the position for the comet tomorrow (Thursday)? A little farther to the left?

KevinFromTexas · #6 Posted **Mar 14, 2013, 4:32 AM**

Well I got a photo of it. It wasn't where I was expecting it. I got really lucky with this photo. I couldn't see it and I was expecting it to be to the left of the moon. It was actually below the moon slightly above the horizon. I guess in a darker area it would show up, but I couldn't see it at all, and it was pretty dark where I was. You pretty much have to "carpet photograph" the area to get it.

prahovaploiesti · #7 Posted **Jun 20, 2013, 12:17 PM**

You are lucky, in Romania it was mostly cloudy.
Maybe with ISON C/2012 S1 I can make some photos.

QuantumX · #8 Posted **Jun 20, 2013, 4:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by prahovaploiesti

You are lucky, in Romania it was mostly cloudy.
Maybe with ISON C/2012 S1 I can make some photos.

It wasn't as spectacular as all the hype. Hale-Bopp it was not. Hopefully, ISON will make a better display toward the end of the year from what we've been hearing. I will try to get pictures then. It was too cloudy every evening here in Miami.

prahovaploiesti · #9 Posted **Jun 21, 2013, 12:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuantumX

It wasn't as spectacular as all the hype. Hale-Bopp it was not. Hopefully, ISON will make a better display toward the end of the year from what we've been hearing. I will try to get pictures then. It was too cloudy every evening here in Miami.

There are some great photos made in Romania, especially from areas around the cities where light polution is minimal. The best I could do was the outskyrts of my city, but the clouds wouldn't let me, the comet beign close to the horizont along with them.

Here are some of the photos from Romania (forum is in romanian, but the photos are worth it):

http://www.astronomy.ro/forum/viewto...er=asc&start=0

Most of these guys are professional astronomers or amateurs with professional tools, so the photos are great.