2013 - TWO Comets to watch for

There are some old threads about these, so I thought I would mention them now since they are both swinging by this year. (One wonders how soon the threads will appear about them actually colliding with earth or they are harboring alien motherships)

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First is Comet PANSTARRS - which is due to pass by in March. Comet PANSTARRS is considered a non-periodic comet. It probably took millions of years to come from the great Oort comet cloud surrounding our solar system. This one, they aren't sure will be visible to the naked eye, but are hoping.

By October 2012, its surrounding coma was estimated to be about 75,000 miles (120,000 kilometers) wide. Comet PANSTARRS will pass closest to the Earth on March 5, and it’ll be closest to the sun on March 10. By some estimates, it should get as bright as Venus, but do remember that comets are notoriously difficult to predict.

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Next we have ISON - which is supposed to outshine the moon - IF it survives it's close encounter with the sun. They are calling this a sun-diving comet. And the mars rover may get a preview of it for us!

A NASA astronomer says ISON's fiery tail may be visible to those watching the night sky from October 2013 through January 2014.

That amazes me! To potentially watch a comet for 3 months

Someone and I apologize for not remembering who, said 2013 would be the 'Year of the Comet', for some reason that captured my imagination and got me really excited. One of them I understand is supposed to be brighter than the moon, is that right? I am looking forward to this!

And there is also comet Lemmon in about 8 weeks time.
It's closest point to us will be 0.98au.

This comet will be the surprise packet. Only predicted to reach magnitude 9 in March, during mid December I was already estimating it at magnitude 10. At this rate of brightening, Comet Lemmon will likely be at least faintly observable to the unaided eye in early March, at the same time and vicinity as C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS !

Southern Comets

Yep! Lemmon will be in the same vicinity and time as Panstarrs!
The two will collide causing Panstarrs to come steaming toward Earth!
Ok I may have added that last bit

Originally posted by Iamschist
Someone and I apologize for not remembering who, said 2013 would be the 'Year of the Comet', for some reason that captured my imagination and got me really excited. One of them I understand is supposed to be brighter than the moon, is that right? I am looking forward to this!

Are you talking about the person who was linking the age of acquarius ("The water bearer") with the idea of a comet?

Originally posted by cartesia

Originally posted by Iamschist
Someone and I apologize for not remembering who, said 2013 would be the 'Year of the Comet', for some reason that captured my imagination and got me really excited. One of them I understand is supposed to be brighter than the moon, is that right? I am looking forward to this!

Are you talking about the person who was linking the age of acquarius ("The water bearer") with the idea of a comet?

I did a search, and found the thread. www.abovetopsecret.com... I did not see the thread you mentioned.

Looking forward to NASA or some other officiating source to provide 3D trajectory videos.

Outshining the moon sounds promising.

Any asteroid close calls in 2013? From what I recall, 2012 had alot of fireballs and one the size of a schoolbus partially survive reentry, no?

Originally posted by minnow
Outshining the moon sounds promising.

There's no guarantee that it will do that, but just the possibility is tantalizing.

Originally posted by minnow
From what I recall, 2012 had alot of fireballs and one the size of a schoolbus partially survive reentry, no?

There are at least a few fireballs that fit this description every year, although you may not necessarily hear about them.

It was probably the Sutter's Mill fireball/meteorite that you are referring to, although there were a couple of particularly interesting events (from a scientific point of view) last year:

Meteorite triggered scientific gold rush

A meteorite that exploded as a fireball over California's Sierra foothills this past spring was among the fastest, rarest meteorites known to have hit the Earth, and it traveled a highly eccentric orbital route to get here.

An international team of scientists presents these and other findings in a study published Friday, Dec. 21, in the journal Science. The 70-member team included nine researchers from UC Davis, along with scientists from the SETI Institute, NASA and other institutions.

Source: spacedaily.com

If you're in the southern Hemisphere, both PANSTARRS and Lemmon are now visible in the morning sky in the southeast.
You will need binoculars and a star map to find them though.
From where I am in the middle of a city, Lemmon was easy to spot but PANSTARRS was barely visible at all.
A dark country site would be much easier.