Comet Pan-STARRS of 2013: Photos and Sky Maps for Stargazers

By Tariq Malik
published

Comet Pan-STARRS Close-Up from Australia

Astronomy Education Services/Gingin Observatory

Close-up of comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS as seen from Mount Dale, Western Australia.

Comet Pan-STARRS C/2011 L4

Terry Lovejoy/Australia

Comet Pan-STARRS C/2011 L4, discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala in June 2011, is expected to become visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere in March. The comet is currently visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

Comet Pan-STARRS on March 2, 2013

© Luis Argerich/Nightscape Photography

Astrophotographer Luis Argerich of Buenos Aires, Argentina, took this photo of Comet Pan-STARRS taken on March 2, 2013. He writes: "Easy to see with the naked eye from rural locations."

Comets Pan-STARRS and Lemmon Over Australia

Ashley Krieger

Astrophotographer Ashley Krieger sent in this photo dated March 4, 2013, taken near Two Wells in South Australia, showing comets Panstarrs and Lemmon together.

Comet Pan-STARRS in Night Sky: March 2013

Science@NASA

The progression of comet Pan-STARRS across the night sky in March 2013 is shown in this NASA graphic.

Comet Pan-STARRS March 2013

NASA/JPL

The location of comet Pan-STARRS in the eastern sky of March 2013 just after sunset is shown in this NASA graphic.

Comet Pan-STARRS Over Cilacap, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia

Rukman Nugraha

Astrophotographer Rukman Nugraha sent in an image of Comet Pan-STARRS taken over Cilacap, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia, on March 7, 2013.

Comet Pan-STARRS Over Kalgoorlie, Australia

Philip Collins/Big Phil Photography

Astrophotographer Philip Collins sent in a photo of comet Pan-STARRS taken in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia at the Mount Charlotte Lookout. Image submitted March 8, 2013.

Comet Pan-STARRS Brightness (Magnitude)

NASA/JPL

This NASA graphic depicts the potential brightness of comet Pan-STARRS in March 2013, using the magnitude scale of astronomers.

Comets Pan-STARRS and Lemmon from Las Campanas Observatory

Yuri Beletsky

Yuri Beletsky, a Magellan Instrument Support Scientist at Las Campanas observatory located in Atacama Desert in Chile, used a Canon 5D Mark II camera with an exposure time of ~ 30 seconds on Feb. 28, 2013 to capture this image of Comets Pan-STARRS and Lemmon.

Comet Pan-STARRS Seen in Buenos Aires #2

© Luis Argerich/Nightscape Photography

Astrophotographer Luis Argerich of Buenos Aires, Argentina, took this photo of Comet Pan-STARRS taken on March 2, 2013. He writes: "Comet Pan-STARRS was visible from about 8:15 pm to 9 pm above the western horizon."

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.