Comet Panstarrs Will Be Visible This Weekend In The Western Sky

Comet Panstarrs, which was discovered back in June 2011, has been visible in the southern hemisphere, but this weekend will make an appearance where we in West Texas can see it.

"It will appear in the west at sunset, from around the 8th to the 13th of March 2013, and will be visible to the naked eye up to the end of the month: Comet Pan-STARRS C/2011 L4 will traverse Cetus, Pisces, Pegasus and Andromeda," Paris Observatory officials wrote in a statement Thursday, as the comet entered the Northern Hemisphere's evening sky after months of being visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

The comet made its way into our solar system from the Oort Cloud, which is a group of icy bodies orbiting way out in a region that extends from just beyond the orbit of Neptune at a distance of about 93,000,000,000,000 miles. Later this year, another comet from the Oort Cloud could be the brightest comet to pass by the Earth in a generation. Comet ISON is expected to outshine every comet in recent memory when it makes its closest swing by the sun late November.