New comet to sweep through solar system in 2013

First picture of the comet PANSTARS.
Image source: www.space.com

After Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) in 2007, this comet may have the potential become the next brightest comets of this century.

When the CCDs of the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) picked up the traces of a comet on June 6 2011, it was an inconspicuous object of 19th magnitude. Named after the telescope, the comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARS), is expected to pass within 28 million miles of the sun in march 9, 2013. During the perihelion the comet is expected to reach a peak magnitude of 0, which is as bright as star Capella.

10 months later, now inside the orbit of jupiter, the PANSTARS is now an object of 14th magnitude at 5 astronomical units from the sun.

Whether the comet will be visible to the naked eye or not, is still a subject of debate amongst the experts. Because of it's closeness to the sun during perihelion, it will only stay in the night sky only an hour or two. During this time the sky could be too bright or it could be obscured by the clouds. Of course observations with telescopes/binoculars is still possible.