Comet Panstarr to be visible in Kolkata

Skygazers will be able to see comet Panstarr in the western sky in the metropolis after sunset this weekend and in the coming week.
"The comet can be located with naked eyes or wide field binoculars just after sunset. Favourable dates starts from 9th March onwards," Director of M P Birla Planetarium D P Duari said here today.
"It is expected to be visible to the naked eye when it is near perihelion, the point of closest approach to sun, in March," Duari said.
The comet made its closest approach to earth at 1.1 Astronomical Unit (AU) on March five. One AU equals one earth-sun distance of about 150 million km.

On March 10, it will have its closest approach to the sun at its perihelion, when it will be only 0.3 AU away from it.
By March 12 and 13, the comet will be visible after sunset not far from the crescent moon.
The non-periodic comet, C/2011 L4, was discovered in June 2011 using the Pan-STARRS telescope near the summit of Haleakala, on the island of Maui in Hawaii and bears its name.