A comet dazzled the sky for the past few months, C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS. PANSTARRS was discovered under a comet search campaign conducted by The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS).
The newfound Comet ISON has the potential to be one of the brightest ever seen when it streaks through the inner solar system this November, but whether it will live up to the hype is anybody's guess.
Falling in toward the sun from the frigid, outer reaches of the solar system, Comet PANSTARRS takes center stage in the evening skies over Earth this month.
Stop and take a minute to check out the sky tonight. A comet is making a visit to our cosmic neighborhood this month, and if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to see it without the help of expensive astronomical equipment.
Named after the International Scientific Optical Network, Comet ISON — officially designated "C/2012 S1 (ISON) — has the potential to be the most spectacular comet of the century. But it could also prove to be a dud. A critical moment will be perihelion passage, when the comet comes closest to the sun...
2013 could turn out to be a comet bonanza. No fewer than three of these long-tailed beauties are expected to brighten to naked eye visibility. Already Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS has cracked that barrier. Sky watchers in Australia have watched it grow from a telescopic smudge to a beautiful binocular sight low above the horizon at both dusk and dawn.
Comet Pan-STARRS C/2011 L4, discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala in June 2011, is expected to become visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere in March.
