UPDATE: The webcast has been moved to March 16 at 17:00 UTC (1 pm EDT) due to bad weather in Italy.
Has it been cloudy where you live and you haven’t yet been able to see Comet PANSTARRS? The Virtual Telescope Project will have a live webcast of this comet, C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS, from Italy, March 15, on March 16 at 17:00 UTC, 1 p.m. EDT. “We have been waiting for it for over one year, and now the waiting is over,” said astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, who will host the webcast, which you can see at this link. Masi said they are keeping an eye on the skies, and will keep us updated on if they need to change the time of the webcast.
If you’re waiting for the weekend to see it with your own eyes, check out our detailed guides on how to see it here and here. Both are filled with graphics and great info on how to see this comet.
This comet has been a challenge to see, and was actually closest to the Sun on March 10, meaning that is when it was at its brightest. However, while Comet PANSTARRS will fade over the next few weeks, it will also rise higher into a darker sky and become – for a time – easier to see. So keep looking!
its now moved to March 16