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| Comet 2011 L4 PanSTARRS imaged from Argentina by Luis Argerich on February 13th, 2013 |
In 2013 there will be two comets which will be visible with the naked eye. The first one, Comet PanSTARRS, will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere as early as March 6 or 7. You will be able to locate it about 1 degree above the western horizon 30 minutes after sunset. It will continue to get 1 or 2 degrees higher each night. On March 9th it will be closest to our Sun, a mear 28 million miles or about 45 million kilometers. This is when it should be its brightest. It should be visible with the naked eye until the end or March, after that you will need binoculars or a telescope.
The closest this comet will be to Earth will be on March 5 when it will be only 102 million miles from our home. This comet was discovered on June 6th, 2011 and recieved the designation "C/2011 L4". It was first spotted by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System on Haleakala in Hawaii and recieved its secondary name, PANSTARRS, which is the instrument’s acronym.
In November and December Comet ISON will pass by us. This comet will be bright enough to see it during the day.
