Have not seen comet yet!

[Fay]

Yesterday as the sun was setting the sky was a lot clearer than predicted, i had my pyjamas on, i like to relax early, put my coat on & drove around to this playing field, that has a good westerly view. stood there about an hour but saw nothing. perhaps i was too late? i was looking right of the sun and upwards.

is it obvious or would I need binoculars?

Good job no one saw me, may have thought i was looking for business!!!!!!!

Fay

[The Sailor]

Glad you had some clear sky to look Fay, just a pity you did not see it, myself I have given up as there has been clouds aplenty and I doubt if I will get to see it.

Jim

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I did need binoculars, but that was about a week ago. Binoculars are still recommended I would think. It should be around for a while still (April 6 it is near M31, fingers crossed for clear skies).

[Stu]

It's getting dimmer now I believe so am pretty sure you will need binos, even though it is higher up.

Stu

[Fay]

Thanks for that

[Double Kick Drum]

Yesterday as the sun was setting the sky was a lot clearer than predicted, i had my pyjamas on, i like to relax early, put my coat on & drove around to this playing field, that has a good westerly view. stood there about an hour but saw nothing. perhaps i was too late? i was looking right of the sun and upwards.

is it obvious or would I need binoculars?

Good job no one saw me, may have thought i was looking for business!!!!!!!

Hee hee!

I did much the same but sone light hazy cloud low down in the West denied me (even with binoculars).

The comet is gradually setting later and later and will eventually become circumpolar. Unfortunately it is also becoming feinter and is likely to require binoculars to be seen.

[Blurred Image]

It should be renamed "pants-stars" because it has been 'pants' as far as I'm concerned. Not one glimmer. Mind you the flipping weather hasn't helped either!!!

N.

[Moonshane]

follow this and if you have clear skies in the area concerned at dusk, you'll get it in any sort of bins.

[Moonshane]

it looks OK to me - there are two numbers the first is for the date in March and then April the 2nd is the time so for the top one it means 12/4/13 at 7pm. is this not showing?

[John]

it looks OK to me - there are two numbers the first is for the date in March and then April the 2nd is the time so for the top one it means 12/4/13 at 7pm. is this not showing?

It's OK - it's me being thick - they looked like times to me for a minute there

[Moonshane]

thank goodness for that. it's a good map and worked for me! main thing to find is the shallow V in Cass and this more or less points at the comet. just scan with bins a bit below the V in the same direction and you'll pick it up (those that have not done so yet I mean).

[John]

It does make sense now that I look at it more carefully. I saw the comet with 10x50 binoculars on 13/3 but I've not had a clear western sky since then

It was just about visible to the naked eye on 13/3 once I'd found it with binoculars. It will be binoculars only by the time I see it again I guess.

[JB80]

I haven't seen it either and I officially give up. PANSTARRS is dead to me now.

I've pretty much decided to wait until we move to bother with observing again, I know I won't get more than two nights in the next 3 months anyway although I won't pack my scopes until the last minute so anything is possible.

[JamesF]

I've not seen it yet either. It's always been too cloudy at the right time of day. Looks like there may be more opportunities over the weekend, but when they can't get the forecast right even six hours in advance there's no way I'm trusting a five day forecast.

James

[The Sailor]

Not seen it either so gratful to see the photos on here. Twice a week we go out for a meal and there is a lovely vista westwards over water and I bring my camera in case it is clear, no clouds above but plenty where the comet is

Jim

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

To those who have given up: it will be around for a while yet. And I wouldn't blame the comet, it has been tracking the predicted brightness in an exemplary fashion, it is just that the weather has been pants. It is also spot on target position-wise, so the finding charts should help.

[Stu]

How bright is it at the moment? Safari plus is saying mag 3.2.

Stu

[ronl]

You do need bin's to observe the comet, I have a perfect site to view, but the weather is playing unfairly at the moment,

or should I say for the last few weeks, we have had a lovely sunny day today but the clouds have just rolled in, it's so

frustrating, maybe tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Good Luck and Clear Sky's

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

How bright is it at the moment? Safari plus is saying mag 3.2.

Stu

I think that is about right, judging from my observations last time round (Wednesday). Note that this should be integrated brightness, i.e. the sum total. The core itself is fainter than a mag three star.

[ronl]

Could not believe my luck, the clouds cleared so I grabbed my bins, within five minutes I had the elusive Panstarrs comet in view

WOW is an under statement, this is my first comet so I didn't know what to expect, it's not that bright from where I live but the tail

looks huge, I expected to see a long thin trail, but it's like a big explosion behind, weather conditions were not perfect but it was a spectacular sight, more so because I found it, fingers crossed for tomorrow night another frost will be welcome, even though my

hands where frozen, I stayed with it for over twenty minutes, so I will be prepared with warmer clothing and gloves.

[casemonster]

Three nights in succession and still no luck with this comet, been out three or four times now in the cold in alonely field but always the low level cloud>>>what time does it set or become visible with bins?? ARGH!!!!

[ronl]

If the sky's are clear tonight wait till it's dark, if you can see Cassiopeia move down to Andromeda

if you find M31 the comet is just below.

Good Luck and Clear Sky's

[The Sailor]

I caught it with a bit of star hopping at 0300 hrs this morning, it had just risen above the horizon to the north and as Ron said a little below M31 and to the east, done a 14sec avi with the QHY5, pleased a punch.

Jim

[David55]

I must have beginner's luck, but I managed to see Panstarrs last night (1st April)- the first night I've tried. It was in the north west at about 21:00, almost directly below the Andromeda galaxy perhaps 20 degrees above the horizon- or in my garden 5 degrees above our neighbour's cherry tree! I needed binoculars, but nothing special, just my 6.5x21 I use for birdwatching. As others have said, the tail was more of a fan than a jetstream, but fairly faint. In fact it looked like an old engraving I remember of Halley's coment.

My advice is to look for a star you can't quite get into focus and then let your eyes find the fuzzy grey tail rising from it.

Tonight, 2nd April, the sky seems equally clear, so I'll have another go. After all, it won't be back in my lifetime!

[Jake Bullit]

Just seen it in my 15*70 bins just below M31.a bit smudgy looking towards Blackpool from just north of Southport.

The Pannstars Android app was a great help. It is being superceded by Ison finder;)

Didn't stop long as it was a bit fresh

Sent from my HTC HD2