On March 10, it will make its closest approach to the sun about 28 million miles 45 million kilometers away. As it continues its nightly trek across the sky, the comet may get lost in the sun's glare but should return and be visible to the naked eye by March As time marches on in the month of March, the comet will begin to fade away slowly, becoming difficult to view even with binoculars or small telescopes by month's end. The comet will appear as a bright point of light with its diffuse tail pointing nearly straight up from the horizon like an exclamation point.
What, if any, attraction does seeing a relatively dim naked-eye comet with the naked eye hold for someone who works with them every day, with file after file of high-resolution imagery spilling out on her computer workstation? If you have a good viewing spot and good weather, it will be like the Sword of Gryffindor, it should present itself to anyone who is worthy.
Share this story. A newly discovered comet may be visible to the naked eye next year. Inouye Highway. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks.
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Sign Up. Get the latest news by e-mail. Most Popular. 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. There is also a name in parentheses indicating the discoverer.
Whatever we call it, this comet should be a pretty sight in the early evening in March and it is not the only comet to grace the night sky this year. Another southern night sky comet, Comet Lemmon, has wowed some stargazers who have managed to observe it from the Southern Hemisphere and in November, the promising Comet ISON could put on a dazzling display when it passes closest to the sun.
Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of Comet Pan-STARRS in the night sky, or any other celestial object, and you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please send images and comments, including location information, to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos space.
This story was update at 8 a.
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