03/14/2013 – Ephemeris – Comet PanSTARRS is hard to pick out of the twilight
Ephemeris for Pi Day 3/14, Thursday, March 14th. The sun will rise at 7:56. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 7:47. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 11:13 this evening.
Comet PanSTARRS is moving northward and is seen higher in the west at 45 minutes after sunset. That’s 8:32 p.m. here in the Interlochen/Traverse City area. At that time it will be about 7 ½ degrees above the horizon. That’s three and a half knuckles up on a fist held at arms length above the horizon. Spaceweather.com has the latest photos of the comet with the advice that a several second exposure with a digital camera shows the comet better than to the eye. My finder charts which are close to photo realistic are on bobmoler.wordpress.com. Our weather isn’t the best here with rain fog and snow. But hope springs eternal. The comet will be around for the rest of the month but will still be fighting twilight and a brightening moon.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Comet PanSTARRS from March 14, 2013 through the 17th. Created using Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel.
Now that the moon can’t be used as a pointer to the comet, I chosen to show the comet’s positions through the weekend.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 
Susan and I saw the comet last night from the scenic overlook about 12 mi. out on Old Mission Penninsula which has a good view of the western horizon. She saw it with the naked eye. Using averted imagination I could see it faintly, but with binos it showed a bright neculas and a fainter tail. I thought I could see a split in the tail. Sorry I didn’t have my 8″ SC with me. Glad the clouds parted for a least a day in the great white north.
Richard
Hi Rich,
Great going. I was not able to get to an optimal spot and had some clutter down low and was unable to get to a good enough spot. I’m willing to try again tonight if the weather holds. Seems the sky’s a bit milky down low.today. I’ll try to make it to that scenic overlook. I was thinking about it yesterday, but didn’t have enpugh time to make it.
Bob