Comet alert

We may get a glimpse of a comet just after sunset for the next few days.  Comet Pan-STARRS came within about 100 million miles of Earth a few days ago and now is going to come within about 45 million miles of the Sun.  That will make it bright, but unfortunately it also means we'll only get a glimpse right after sunset.  It's worth a try tonight, though viewing may be better for the next couple of days after.  We're nearly at dark of the moon; that will not only help with viewing but possibly give us a dramatic contrast in a couple of days, when the new crescent moon will be just above the horizon near the comet right after sunset.



I got a pretty good look at a comet -- was it Hale-Bopp? -- in the mid-90s from the window of a commercial airliner.

4 comments:

alethiophile said...

I'm reasonably sure you don't actually mean 'within 45 miles of the Sun', because that sort of distance is basically indistinguishable from "colliding with the Sun".

Texan99 said...

Oops!

Bob said...

I think it was Hyakutake.

That year, we got a longhair kitten with a big white flash across her back. We named her Comet of course.

Texan99 said...

I guess it beats "Here, Hyakutake!"