Comet C/2011 L4 PanSTARRS just passed perihelion on March 10th at 0.3 AU from the Sun (or 46.5 million kilometres, just inside the orbit of Mercury). With a 106,000 year orbit it won't be back this way for a while.

Mark took an astronomy excursion to the desert between Phoenix and Tuscon to see the comet. While is was very low in the sky, setting within an hour of the sun, he was able to capture several nice images of it before it set.

He also captured a a nice picture of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) through his C11, though thin clouds from a recent rain made the visibility subpar.

See more pictures from Mark's astronomy excursion and his image of the Whirlpool Galaxy.

Comet PanSTARRS over Kentucky

Two days later, on the 12th, Scot did a little comet gazing near his home in Louisville. It was a beautiful crisp, clear night with just a few clouds frustratingly hovering right where he thought the comet should be.

The clouds managed to drift off just in time for him to spot the comet low in the sky and snap a few shots of the it before it ducked behind a tree. The comet was very near in the sky to the barest sliver of the crescent moon at 1 percent illumination, which he also took a nice picture of.

See Scot's picture of PanSTARRS and his shot of the crescent moon.

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has passed the 30-kilometer (18.64-mile) milestone in its travels over the Martian surface. Opportunity has been on Mars since 2004. It was during a small recent drive of 146.8 meters (482 feet) that the rover passed the distance milestone. According to NASA, ... view entire article

A Kuiper Belt object just outside our solar system is on its way to becoming a new comet, possibly a very bright-looking one. The object, 2003 EL61, is currently in the shape of a potato, is roughly the size of Pluto, and rotates on its axis every 4 hours. The top layer of the object is covered in ... view entire article