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where is panstarrs

sparkyjon

By sparkyjon
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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Jon. Find Cassiopeia then look where the largest of the Vs are pointing.the brightest star on that line is Mirach. Find your way to that star look right from the star a little and down. The first fuzzy you should see is m31and right under it should be the comet.might not be that dark at eight but around 9ish you should have a good shot if you can see to the horizon although it is getting higher in the sky all the time. Good luck

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cadno

cadno

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I failed miserably lol, sadly the big hill to my west blocked any good attempt to see it, even when as far as figuring out my altitude to see if I was even in with a chance!

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sparkyjon

sparkyjon

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big failure mainly because i put up a 6ft fence and not a 5 foot fence :grin::p i couldnt get my dob in the right position to see and for the life of me couldnt find my binos anywhere..

i'm going to have to dig them out and have a go with them ,

am i correct in thinking it's going to get higher in the sky but fainter as it does...??

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Ken31

Ken31

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Ladies & Gents,

I found it easily with normal 10x50 binos in a murky north-west horizon last night about 2120 BST, obviously it will be easier sooner after dark as it will be higher in the sky. As long as you can see Cassiopeia you should be able to see M31 and therefore PANSTARRS (which won't be in quite the same place tonight but near enough). Follow the line stated above to the bright(ish) star nearest M31, then M31 and PANSTARRS are in the same binocular field.

If you can't see the horizon to the NW, MOVE!

The photo here shows the view last night:

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bingevader

bingevader

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Yep, I'm a convert to Stellarium!

I had a free copy of Starry Night with a computer magazine years ago, but it's a very old version that Stellarium supersedes easily!

'Twas the first chance I've had to see Panstarrs too!

It was much further north than I was expecting.

But from the top window and through some trees with a small pair of bins it was unmistakeably a comet!

I must confess to completely missing M31 however!

Cheers

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Rhys Hardwick

Rhys Hardwick

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I found it! Went out the other day to Caerphilly mountain, froze my t**s off, and didn't see it due to low lying cloud in the north-west. Was clear overhead!

Last night though went out to Cowbridge, a little field just off the A48 where you can park the car. Saw it first when taking a photo with my SLR, then picked it out with my crappy pair of 8x21 binos. Looked much more impressive through the 9x50 finderscope that I brought along.

I would agree, you need binos at least, it's not naked eye, and wait for the sky on the horizon to get completely dark for the best chances. It should be becoming circumpolar before long, and higher, which I suspect will actually make it easier, even though it will be dimmer. The haze on the horizon, unless you are in a truly dark site, cuts out too much light.

While I was there, also did the binocular list in this month's Sky at Night - really liked Melotte 111, pretty through a 5 deg fov. Saw my first 2 globulars, but they were literaly little smudges.

Good luck all on the comet hunting.

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Rhys Hardwick

Rhys Hardwick

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And you Paul. Thanks for the company. I was visited by couple of coppers after you left, thinking someone was joyriding on the common! They reliably informed me the area is called Cowbridge Common. A pretty good spot, pretty good on the LP front for south wales. You do get a few cars coming by, which tends to ruin the night vision, but I doubt there are many spots nearby where you wont get that.

As suggested, went out again tonight to find Panstarrs - with my new Binos. I ordered a pair of Helios Naturesport 10x50 WA after seeing a Sky at Night review - pretty impressed. Had a really good night observing with them - saw Panstarrs again - less bright tonight - perhaps because it was lower in the sky tonight (I was later).

Also had a pretty good grab of DSOs - Mel 111 again, M3, M63 (faint galaxies), M51 and M106 (again faint), Double cluster, M44 (gorgeous through the binos) and M92.

I had a bit of difficulty though - the star charts I use don't list Melotte or Stock open clusters, which seem to be popular for bino viewers. Does anyone know of a good resource for Binocular viewers, ideally that would be visible through a 50mm aperture?

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bingevader

bingevader

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My back garden mostly! :grin:

Cardiff Astronomical Society meet in Dyffryn Gardens and also Castell Heights golf course, but they're fixed sessions not spur of the moment jobs!

What's the Wenallt car park like these days?

Used to go there when I was younger and still living in Cardiff, saw Hale Bopp there too!

Now, that was a COMET, not this damp squib of a thing out at the moment. :p

Cheers

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Funny thing that - although Hale Bopp was a spectacular naked eye comet - I've enjoyed Panstarrs more - perhaps it was the challenge of finding it - still haven't got my scope on it yet - hopefully as it rises towards Cass I might get a chance from the back garden.

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