Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room Comet week

Friends,

Next week is comet week. Two comets will be coming into view, Lemmon and Panstarr. Lemmon is the dimmer of the two and may not be naked eye visible from north of the equator. Panstarr more than likely will.

Comet Panstarr has already made its close encounter with earth, missing us buy around 100 million miles. It swings around the sun on Sunday March 10 getting a little closer to the sun than the planet Mercury (28 million miles). At this time is will be at its brightest and not visible to anyone as it is to close to the sun. On March 12 and 13 should be the best viewing just after sunset. It will be near the crescent moon to help locate it. Each night there after it will be higher in the sky, but getting dimmer as it moves away from the sun. If you have binoculars it will help you see it in the twilight. As the sky darkens it should be easily visible to the eye (with comets, nothing is a guarantee). The photos attached will help you get an idea of where to look and what we might see. The further north of the equator, the better the viewing. On the first two nights the higher you are to get a clear view of the horizon will make for better viewing.

Have fun.