I finally manages to see and get a couple of quick images of Comet PANSTARRS. I first tried on March 9th from a dark location with a clear horizon, but no luck. Since then it’s been cloudy but tonight it was clear and I got this shot around 8pm (one hour after sunset) as the comet was starting to disappear into the trees from my less-than-ideal local viewing site (click on image for slightly larger version). Couldn’t see it with the naked eye, it was just visible in binoculars, but it showed up pretty well on the images. To the naked eye there was nothing there! This shot was taken using ISO 6400, a shutter speed of 0.6 seconds using a 300mm lens at f4.0. Focus wasn’t perfect since I was fumbling around in the dark and rushing to get an image before the comet wen’t down behind the trees. The weather forecast here in NJ isn’t good for comet viewing with no really clear skies for the next 10 days, so unfortunately it will be a while before my next image. Over the next month the comet will grow fainter, though it will move higher in the sky which will allow visibility later in the evening under darker skies.