(Posted 18 July 2015) Comet 2014 Q1 (PANSTARRS) is quickly moving away from the Sun and rising high into the Southern skies. Comet 2014 Q1 (PANSTARRS) is the brightest comet forecast to be visible from the Southern hemisphere this year.
Comet 2014 Q1 (PANSTARRS) is not intrinsically bright and is best viewed in binoculars. I could see a half degree long tail (the same width as a Full Moon).
However, as shown in the above image by Anne-Louise Surma-Hawes, a short 20 second exposure with a relatively small telescope (70 mm aperture) gives a completely different view of the comet. Not that this is a photograph of yje lcd screen on the back of a Canon DSLR 50 and not the actual image. She is currently ‘out bush’ at Leyburn, Queensland and does not have her computer with her to send me a processed image.
Use the above chart to find Comet 2014 Q1 over the next few nights. Just use a pair of binoculars to look for the comet along the line shown on the chart as per the time and dates noted. Use Jupiter and Venus to ‘star hop’ from the find the comet. Stars are shown to magnitude 6 on the chart.
RT @Nightskyonline: Comet 2014 Q1 (PANSTARRS) shines bright (together with the Moon, Venus and Regulus) (with images): (Posted 18 Jul… ht…
Paul, thank you for the information on PanSTARRS. My daughter called to tell me that she’s seem a large bright object with what she described as a broken tail arcing down the sky this evening (Thurs 30th Jul). She is not at all into astronomical events so didn’t know what to make of it, but she sees enough planes to know it wasn’t that. She lives in Burleigh. I can only figure than the comet might still be visible. Or could it be something else? There was an earthquake north of our area this morning, felt in Currumbin at least, and I find that sky events often happen around earthquakes. Any thoughts on what that bright large object might have been?
Good to hear from you. Are you able to provide me with any more information from your daughter? This could include the time she saw the object and/or the direction she was looking.
Regards,
Paul Floyd.