Comet Pan-STARRS: How bright will it get?
Thursday, September 6, 2012 - 08:31
in Astronomy & Space
Early next year, a comet will come fairly close to Earth and the Sun—traveling within the orbit of Mercury—and it has the potential to be visible to the naked eye. Amateur and professional astronomers alike have been keeping watch on Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS (or PANSTARRS for short), trying to ascertain just how bright this comet may become. It will come within 45 million kilometers (28 million miles) of the Sun on March 9, 2013, which is close enough for quite a bit of cometary ice to vaporize and form a bright coma and tail.