As comets approach the sun, they warm up and the head and tail grow bigger and brighter. ISON is now visible, in the constellation Virgo, near the bright star Spica. That’s in the east before dawn. There’s a finder chart at http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2012S1/2012S1.html and more informationa at Phil Plait’s blog. Please excuse the rush. I’m trying to finish a book of children’s stories about La Palma’s amazing night sky. Cuando los…
The astronomical viewpoint at Fuencaliente has three (modern) standing stones, where the shadow of the setting sun points to another stone at (respectively) the summer solstice, both equinoxes, and the winter solstice. Tomorrow night (Wednesday) there will be a free activity run by Cielos La Palma at the viewpoint, starting at 6:30 pm to watch the sunset, followed by astronomical observations including another chance to see comet PanSTARRS through…
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) was discovered in June 2011. At that time it was a long way from the sun and very faint. Now it’s closer to the sun than the Earth, and it’s bright enough to see with the naked eye. This week you can see comet Panstarrs (C/2011 L4) near the horizon in the west, about 40 minutes after sunset. It’s close to the moon, so the…