We Saw C/2011 L4 (Pan-STARRS) Tonight From Alton, New Hampshire, Through Binoculars, Thanks To Heads Up From Dave Eagle.

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.by Anura Guruge

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>> Update on 2013 ISON & Pan-STARRS … — Apr. 6, 2013.
>> Last ‘Pan-STARRS’ post — Mar. 17, 2013.

C/2011 L4 (Pan-STARRS) seen with binoculars from Alton, NH, on April 6, 2013. Click to ENLARGE.

Dave Eagle, in an e-mail this morning, gave me a heads up that C/2011 L4 (Pan-STARRS) is still visible (though I am not sure whether it is still naked eye). Per Dave, and he would know, it will be close to ‘M31‘ — i.e., Andromeda.

It was more of less where I told you to look this morning. I used those same instructions, which were: For us in New England, that would be low in the Northwest sky around 8 pm. I think trees will be the problem for us. From what I can see from my trusty Sky Charts our best bet would be to start with The Pleiades (the easy to spot ‘Seven Sisters’/Subaru cluster). They (i.e., The Pleiades) should be close to West around 8 pm. Then start scanning North from there. With luck you should be able to spot the ‘W’, the upside down crown, of Cassiopeia. M31, and hence the comet, should be below Cassiopeia.

Beautiful night for admiring the firmament. Not a cloud in the sky. The cold air making everything bright and crisp. We started off on a cleared, abandoned housing estate site close by but it didn’t have enough elevation. So headed up Prospect Mountain Road to the very top. Got to see two delightful porcupines frolicking on the road. Yes, we stopped and watched. Then we turned into Ridge Road at the end of Prospect and parked right at the zenith, off the road. Now we were above the tree line. We used on a Android 7″ pad to fine tune our direction. Great App. Very easy to use. bang, Right there. Deanna could hold it up and match Cassiopeia with what is in the sky. That helps.

I started scanning with a pair of old, very old, Carl Zeiss, 10x50W binoculars. Took me a while. But then I saw it and I said: ‘WOW’! No escaping it. When you see it you know that that is different. It was rewarding. I saw Hale-Bopp, C/1995 O1, most nights for nearly a month in 1997. That made an indelible impression. I also saw Kohoutek, C/1973 E1, faintly, in 1974, after spending days clambering up hillocks in The Mumbles, near Swansea, Wales, with like minded fellow students from the University, spread over 4 months. That was dedication. C/2011 L4 was better.

Deanna thinks it is the first comet she has seen. She is not sure whether she saw Hale-Bopp. She was thrilled. She too went: ‘Wow’. It was, of course, a first for Devanee. Teischan wasn’t interested.

So this was a nice, welcome warm-up for C/2012 S1 (ISON) later this year. That should, with luck, be more spectacular. 

Where C/2011 L4 was in the heavens when we saw it. It was pretty far away. Click image to access NASA JPL prbital data.