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Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PanSTARRS) based on the summit of Haleakala on the island of Maui

comet brightened ahead of expectations and was first picked up by an amateur astronomer on March 28th of last year

Comet PanSTARRS is already an impressive sight for southern hemisphere observers

Comet PanSTARRS will then begin curving northward during the last week of February

the comet has a hyperbolic orbit inclined 84.2° degrees relative to the ecliptic

On an 110,000+ year orbit, this is more than likely Comet PanSTARRS first journey through the inner solar system

Comet PanSTARRS will reach an altitude of greater than 5° at dusk for northern hemisphere observers based around 30° north latitude looking low to the southwest starting on March 5th.

The comet will then begin gaining altitude

Keep in mind, Daylight Saving Time begins

looking for the comet around 7:00 pm local on the first week of March, it’ll be at 8:00 pm on the second week

After gaining

elevation from our northern hemisphere vantage point

will then begin running roughly parallel to the western horizon on each successive evening for mid-northern latitude observers

This first half of March is also when Comet PanSTARRS will have the potential to appear at its brightest

best case scenario, we’ll have a comet with a -1st magnitude coma and a tail pointing straight up from the horizon like an exclamation point.

worst case situation, we’ll have a +3rd magnitude fuzzy comet only visible through binoculars

if you observe the comet on no other night, be sure to check it out on the evening of March 12-13th

will be joined by a slim crescent Moon just over a day old.

Comet PanSTARRS will then continue its trek northward

for the remainder of March

By May 1st, Comet PanSTARRS will have dipped back down below naked eye visibility

if it survives, Comet Pan-STARRS might send an amazing stream of gas and dust into the night sky

Pan-STARRS should be very active, producing a lot of dust and therefore a nice dust tail

it could still be difficult to see

From our point of view on Earth, the comet will be very close to the sun

it is only observable in twilight when the sky is not fully dark

comes from the Oort Cloud,

discovered in June 2011 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System, or Pan-STARRS telescope, in Hawaii

nearest approach to Earth on March 5, when it will come be about 100 million miles (160 million kilometers) away

the best time to look for it might be at sunset March 12 and 13, when the comet will appear not far from the crescent moon

The comet's tail will probably require binoculars or a small telescope

what it will actually look like in the sky is impossible to predict this far ahead

There’s a whole spectrum of possibilities here

SON will live up to the most breathless predictions and blaze in the sky

Its tail will span half the sky

becoming visible as soon as the Sun has set

At the other end of the spectrum, ISON will play us all for fools, and even before its close solar flyby it will break up without developing a searchbeam tail