Comet Pan-STARRS...

vikkyvik 07 Mar 13, 06:39

...will be very visible in the northern hemisphere next week:

Several important dates are approaching. On March 10th, Comet Pan-STARRS makes its closest approach to the sun (0.3 AU). At that time, solar glare might make it difficult to see even as the nucleus vaporizes and brightens. O March 12th and 13th, the comet will reappear in the sunset sky--this time in the northern hemisphere not far from the crescent Moon; think photo-op! Light curves suggest that the comet's brightness will peak near 2nd magnitude, similar to the stars of the Big Dipper. Check the realtime comet gallery for the latest images.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Get your cameras ready! If it's cloudy here (as it has been for a few days), I will be most displeased.

vikkyvik 11 Mar 13, 06:35

And here are my first photos of it, taken earlier tonight about an hour after sunset. Couldn't actually see it with the naked eye - thank god for camera sensors!

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 11 Mar 13, 07:31

Sweet! We have that other comet coming this year, too. Can't wait.

KFLLCFII 11 Mar 13, 13:17

It didn't come out to play in my neck of the woods last night due to low clouds, but the mosquitoes did. {shooting}

Boris (Founding Member) 11 Mar 13, 13:55

Nice pics! {thumbsup}

I watched Halley's Comet last time it came by; it was a disappointment. I could pick it out, but it was very dim, even with binoculars.

Then I saw Hale-Bopp about 15 years ago. That one was very cool. You could see it clearly with the naked eye every night for a few months.

I'll have to watch for this one, but if it's too close to the horizon, I won't have a good view from my house.

The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers...

KFLLCFII 12 Mar 13, 04:43

Finally got it on test shots. Had I actually been able to spot it on the camera LCD near real-time versus at home on the computer, I would have known where to zoom while still on-site for better close-ups. Taken at 98mm (70-200mm + 1.4x), 37 minutes after sunset:

Additionally, here's an animation combining 7 shots for a 9-minute span:

vikkyvik 12 Mar 13, 23:32

Shot from Day 2:

TUSpilot (Founding Member) 13 Mar 13, 06:22

Was able to see the comet tonight around 7:20. Going to find a higher vantage point tomorrow. I was sitting on the sidewalk next to my car to take the picture and some guy stopped and asked if everything was ok. I said I was just looking for a comet. He hadn't heard of it but I pointed where it was. Then a woman jogged by asking if we were looking for the comet. She couldn't see it though.

: comet.jpg (58.98 KiB) Viewed 4271 times

We live in a galaxy far far away and we STILL have to connect in ATL.

vikkyvik 13 Mar 13, 17:33

Pan-STARRS Day 3 shots. Could barely see it with the naked eye last night:

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 13 Mar 13, 19:47

Wow Vik. I don't have words for how pretty those are. Amazing.

ANCFlyer (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 14 Mar 13, 01:49

GREAT shots Vik.

Can't see it here, cloud cover . . . dagnabit.

Wonder is a comet qualifies as posted at NAS? It is afterall, airborne :))

LET'S GO BRANDON!!!!

vikkyvik 14 Mar 13, 05:32

Lucas wrote:Wow Vik. I don't have words for how pretty those are. Amazing.

ANCFlyer wrote:GREAT shots Vik.

Thank you both very much. But real thanks should go to Mother Nature, or perhaps Ms. Sun and Mr. Oort, for providing something so beautiful to capture.

ANCFlyer wrote:Wonder is a comet qualifies as posted at NAS? It is afterall, airborne

There was some brief talk about adding a "Space" photo section....Trust me, I'm waiting for it! :))

ShanwickOceanic (netAirspace FAA) 15 Mar 13, 11:45

Front page of spaceweather.com has this fanastic shot at the moment:

http://spaceweather.com/gallery/indiv_u ... d_id=78519

TWA800 conspiracy theorists will wee themselves...

My friend and I applied for airline jobs in Australia, but they didn't Qantas.

Nosedive 15 Mar 13, 20:41

Meanwhile, in Westeros:

JeffSFO (Photo Quality Screener & Founding Member) 31 Mar 13, 23:44

vikkyvik 01 Apr 13, 16:50

Nice one Jeff! Did you take that recently?

Strangely enough, the first 3 nights were literally the only 3 nights that the sky has been clear enough....

AndesSMF (Founding Member) 01 Apr 13, 17:35

vikkyvik wrote:Nice one Jeff! Did you take that recently?

Strangely enough, the first 3 nights were literally the only 3 nights that the sky has been clear enough....

Tell me about it... {grumpy}

Caught it ONCE, barely, just per chance. Otherwise it has been cloudy at the wrong location. Even at my in-laws house, where you get awesome views...nothing! {mad}

Einstein said two things were infinite; the universe, and stupidity. He wasn't sure about the first, but he was certain about the second.

JeffSFO (Photo Quality Screener & Founding Member) 03 Apr 13, 03:30

vikkyvik wrote:Nice one Jeff! Did you take that recently?

Strangely enough, the first 3 nights were literally the only 3 nights that the sky has been clear enough....

Thanks, Vik. That was taken on March 16th. The last time I got a glimpse of it was on March 22nd but it was fading by then and I've been too busy to look since then.

Honestly, I never did see it with the naked eye which made hunting for it difficult at times...

vikkyvik 03 Apr 13, 16:23

JeffSFO wrote:Honestly, I never did see it with the naked eye which made hunting for it difficult at times...

I barely managed to glimpse it on the 3rd night. But relied on my camera to find it. Kept taking photos until it showed up in one.

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