Stargazers should keep a look out for rare spectacle; a bright comet

OUR Editor was again out and looking at the heavens above Formby Point. This time he was looking for the Comet Panstarrs, on Wednesday, 13 February 2013. Discovered in June 2011, Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS): it is a non-periodic comet that is currently visible to the naked eye. If the weather keeps clear over the next few weeks, you will still get a chance to see it, but sadly, as it rises in the sky it will start to lose its tail, and dim. As we discovered, you can see it unaided, but we would strongly suggest you use binoculars or telescope to see it better! If you do look through binoculars you should be able to see the head of the comet and make out the 2 prongs of its fan tail. This is truly a one-off time chance to see this amazing comet as it flies past, as it will not return for another 100,000 years. The comet is visible with binoculars or a telescope, in the Western sky, after sunset. "As it was poor visibility on 12 March 2013, we are so lucky that 13 March 2013 provided us a fantastic clear sky to see it! We picked the 13 March, as on 12 and 13 it was forecast to be likely to break 2nd magnitude, providing the best opportunity for viewing and photographing it. Also, the location of the crescent moon made it easier to locate in the sky." said our Editor, who had been advised by the Liverpool Astronomical Society. Also standing on a sand dune, next to the car park, were a few Formby residents, along with a visitor from Baltimore (USA), all hoping to see the comet, and most of them did manage it. Our editor was shooting away with his SLR, in the area of the sky that was shown on his electronic guide as the correct area, but did not realise he had captured the comet's image, until a former member of the Wirral Astronomical Society took a look and spotted it on his shots. "I thought it was the plane that was flying around that area of the sky." Patrick said. But realistically on Wednesday, it was is not that easy to spot against the dusky, post- sunset sky, so we would like to thank the unnamed chap for stopping him from giving up. These are a few of the photos our Editor, Patrick Trollope, shot of the comet. If you want to see Panstarrs, it is located for the next few nights at dusk, in the between Cetus and Pisces on the left and Pegasus on the right, ending its visibility around 30 March 2013 near Andromeda. This comet has now been downgraded a bit and may not be as bright as was originally anticipated, but it will still be a fabulous sight. If you get a photo or if you spot it, let us know by emailing are newsroom via:- news24@southportreporter.com Also if you don't spot it, don't despair, as 2013 is a year with many special astronomical events in store for us, including a chance to see what should be an even more amazing comet, called Ison. Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was spotted in September 2012 by 2 amateur astronomers and is also new to us, as this appears to be this comet's 1st ever journey into the inner Solar System. It is expected to pass much closer to the Sun than most comets, in November 2013. So if it survives as it passes the Sun, it should go on to produce a dazzling showing in December 2013, making a dramatic appearance in our skies. Because it reaches such close proximity to the sun, it is predicted that in December 2013, it may achieve a brightness equal to, or even exceeding, that of the full moon; giving as good a display as we've been told comet Arend - Roland  did in 1957. So, if correct, the icy visitor could be bright enough to seen in daylight! Ison is predicted to be visible to all of us on Earth, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, for at least a couple of months, from about November 2013 through January 2014. Sadly, in the UK it will only be visible low in the sky, if current information is correct. For more information on Comet Ison and Panstarrs, we suggest you look at Heavens-Above.com for more.

2 Facts you might not know...

Did you know that it was named after the telescope in Hawaii Pan-STARRS:- most comets carry the names of their discoverers? Also, did you know that it probably originated millions of years from the great Oort cloud at the edge of our solar system?