Contains:  Solar system body or event
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Panstarss c-2012 k1, Jerome Proust

Panstarss c-2012 k1

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Panstarss c-2012 k1, Jerome Proust

Panstarss c-2012 k1

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Description

C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS) is a retrograde Oort cloud comet discovered at magnitude 19.7, 8.7 AU from the Sun on 17 May 2012 using the Pan-STARRS telescope located near the summit of Haleakalā, on the island of Maui in Hawaii (U.S.).

The comet starts 2014 as a northern hemisphere object. By late April 2014 it brightened to roughly apparent magnitude ~8.8 making it a small telescope/binoculars target for experienced observers.

The comet is currently magnitude 8.

From 12 July 2014 until 6 September 2014 it will have an elongation less than 30 degrees from the Sun.[4] The comet will come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 27 August 2014 at a distance of 1.05 AU (157,000,000 km; 98,000,000 mi) from the Sun. It crosses the celestial equator on 15 September 2014 becoming a southern hemisphere Object.

The comet should reach its peak magnitude of ~6 in mid-October 2014 when it will have an elongation of around 75 degrees from the Sun. It may be visible to the experienced naked eye observer, but will be much easier to detect in binoculars or a telescope.

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Panstarss c-2012 k1, Jerome Proust