Comet PanSTARRS (C/2012 K1) has now passed perihelion and is once again visible in the morning sky. The comet made its closest approach to the Sun on August 27, 2014. On this date it passed approx. 1.05 AU (157 million kilometres or 98 million miles) from the Sun; a similar distance to that of the Earth/Sun.

Discovery

PanSTARRS was discovered using the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) telescope located near the summit of volcano Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui. At discovery, the comet was very dim (mag. +19.7) and located 8.7 AU (1.3 billion kilometres or 800 million miles) distant, far beyond the orbit of Jupiter and almost as distant as Saturn.

Location and star chart

During October, the comet appears high in the sky before sunrise from equatorial and southern latitudes. It started the month heading in a southwesterly direction through the largest constellation of all Hydra. On October 3rd, PanSTARRS crossed into Puppis where it remains for the rest of the month.

It's predicted that the comet will hover around magnitude +6.5 during October and therefore within the range of binoculars and small telescopes. On October 23rd, PanSTARRS wanders through open cluster Collinder 135 (Cr 135), also known as the Pi Puppis cluster. This small grouping consists of four stars, all of which are visible to the naked eye. The brightest component is Pi Pup, an orange supergiant star of mag. + 2.73.

From mid northern latitudes, PanSTARRS is also visible but only for about the first three weeks of the month and nowhere near as well placed; it appears low down towards the southern sky during morning twilight.

The finder chart below shows the positions of PanSTARRS from October 10 to October 24, 2014.

Comet PanStarrs (C/2012 K1) Finder Chart from October 10 to October 24, 2014 - pdf format

C/2012 K1 (PanSTARRS) Data (at epoch August 11, 2014)

Comet (C2012/K1) PanSTARRS Data Table