Guess what should be visible tonight? Comet Pan-STARRS. Experts say the comet should be about as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper.
Come twilight (the time of day, NOT the movie/book!), look to the western sunset sky. It passes closest to the earth tonight (March 5) and on March 10, it’s closest to the sun–optimal viewing according to spaceweather.com.
The astrology folks say the best dates to view the comet may be March 12 and 13 when it emerges from behind the sun, not far from the crescent moon. I would think that makes it easier to locate, with the moon for a reference point!
When The Only was small, we made a point of sharing things like this with her. We drove for miles to get away from city light contamination to see the Northern Lights when they were visible at this latitude/longitude. We’ve laid on a blanket on the ground watching the Perseid meteor shower. We curled up in lawn chairs to watch the space shuttle transverse the sky from horizon to horizon.
When I step outside tonight to watch for the comet, I’ll miss her. I hope she’ll step out of her own house to watch, and when she and Baseball Boy have their own little ones, they’ll take moments like this to share the wonder.
This geek moment was brought to you by the letters N, A, S, and A. What about y’all? Will you be comet watching?
Courtesy of spaceweather.com
Silver James 
Cool. I had no idea. I’ll try to see if I can catch a glimpse of it. Thanks.
One of our local meteorologists is a space geek.He’s always reporting on this stuff. 🙂
Thanks for the heads-up (ha)! I’ll have to wait as we are still cloudy and overcast for the next few days! But I will look for it – I love going out at bedtime with the dog and standing in the middle of the yard looking up at the stars – so pretty. I know nothing about them, but I love to look 🙂
Here’s hoping you have a clear evening at some point during it’s traverse. I hear you on just standing out and gazing up. I’m that way with the moon, but the stars are so very cool, too!
It’s overcast tonight so I’m hoping to catch glimpse next week. I think they said dusk will be prime viewing time then.
Yeah, I missed it too. 😦 Next week! I’ll try to post reminders.
Hey Silver, thanks for tht. I haven’t gazed up at the heavens for this type of phenomena since Halley’s comet. That’s a loooonnnnngggg time ago 🙂
Peace and love,
Paula R.
You are more than welcome, my friend. I hope the weather let you see it! Stay warm and dry as this newest storm rolls your way!