Comet PanSTARRS Observing
For the first time in years, a comet will be close to the limit of visibility to the unaided eye from the Northern Hemisphere. The Museum of York County and Carolina Skygazers astronomy club will be attempting to observe comet PanSTARRS on several evenings in March. To improve the view, telescopes will be available to magnify the comet and other objects in the sky. Since the comet is only up for a brief time at sunset and a viewing location with an unobstructed view of the western horizon is necessary, the observing site will be the northwest corner of the Academy Sports' parking lot, located at 2468 Cross Pointe Dr. in Rock Hill, SC.
Three dates are planned to coincide with events in the sky:
March 13: Comet PanSTARRS near the moon.
March 17: The moon and Jupiter very close.
March 23: Comet PanSTARRS highest above the horizon.
Each event is open 7:45 – 8:15 p.m. Participation is free! If there are clouds in the sky on any of these evenings, that observing will be canceled.
The current position of comet PanSTARRS will be shown during programs presented Tuesday –Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Settlemyre Planetarium at the Museum of York County with a more in-depth discussion of comets during
Carolina Skies shown at 2 p.m. on Saturdays. A NASA video about the comet is also being shown during museum hours on a monitor outside the planetarium entrance. The museum is located at 4621 Mt. Gallant Rd. in Rock Hill, SC and is open Tuesday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
For more information on comet PanSTARRS, visit this site:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/06feb_panstarrs/
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