Year of the comet: Stargazers set for spectacular views as ANOTHER newly discovered comet flies past the Earth

Pan-STARRS is to come within 28 million miles of the sun this weekend

Follows a spate of comet and asteroid sighting in 2013



This is the closest the newly discovered ice ball has ever been to the Earth



It will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with binoculars



A recently discovered comet is closer to Earth than it has ever been - and stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere are finally going to be able to see it.



Called Pan-STARRS, the comet passed within 100 million miles of Earth on Tuesday, its closest approach in its first-ever cruise through the inner solar system.



The ice ball will get even closer to the sun this weekend - just 28 million miles from the sun and within the orbit of Mercury.



Comet Lemmon and Pan-STARRS were both visible over the Atacama Desert in South America last week

THE YEAR OF THE COMET

Last week Asteroid 2013 EC, between 10 to 17 metres wide, passed between the moon and sun 246,000 miles away. On February 15, almost 1,000 people were injured when a meteor hit the town of Yekaterinburg, in the Ural mountains in Russia. A bright comet show is also now on the way - Comet ISON may come close to outshining the moon in November.

The comet has been visible for weeks from the Southern Hemisphere but now the top half of the world will get a glimpse as well.



The best viewing days should be next Tuesday and Wednesday, when Pan-STARRS appears next to a crescent moon at dusk in the western sky.

Until then, glare from the sun will obscure the comet.



California astronomer, Dr Tony Phillips, said the comet's proximity to the moon will make it easier for novice sky watchers to find it.

Binoculars likely will be needed for the best viewing, he said, warning onlookers to avoid pointing them at the setting sun.



‘Wait until the sun is fully below the horizon to scan for the comet in the darkening twilight,’ Dr Phillips advised.



Pan-STARRS' name is an acronym for the Hawaiian telescope used to spot it two years ago - the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System.



Pan-STARRS was observed on August 9, 2012, by British astronomer David Asher in Australia

This picture of Pan-STARRS was taken on February 8, 2013, in Australia

The volcano-top telescope is on constant prowl for dangerous asteroids and comets that might be headed our way. - and in recent months there have been several

Last week, Asteroid 2013 EC is between 10 to 17 metres wide - roughly the same size as the one which exploded above Russia's Ural mountains last month, injuring 1,000 people.

It was discovered on March 2, and passed between the moon and sun 246,000 miles away in the early hours of this morning.



Thought to be billions of years old, the comet originated in the distant Oort cloud - a cloud of icy bodies well beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto - and somehow got propelled toward the inner solar system. It has never passed by Earth before, Dr Phillips said.

Close-up of comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS as seen from Mount Dale, Western Australia





This, however, is far from the only comet that has been making headlines this year.

On February 15, almost 1,000 people were injured when a meteor hit the town of Yekaterinburg, in the Ural mountains in Russia.

A thunderous ‘sonic boom’ shattered windows, rocked buildings and interrupted mobile phone networks.

The burst of light and thunderous sound were caused by a 40-ton meteor penetrating the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of at least 33,000mph.

As it raced through the sky, the 50-foot wide chunk of space rock compressed the air ahead of it, creating the enormous temperatures that meant it exploded in a fireball somewhere between 18 and 32 miles above the ground at around 9.20am local time.



For those in search of comet L4 PANSTARRS, look to the west after sunset in early and mid-March. This graphic shows the comet's expected positions in the sky





IS MARS ABOUT TO GET HIT BY A COMET? A comet hurtling into our solar system from deep space could next year score a direct and cataclysmic impact on Mars, astronomers say.



According to current calculations, comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) is set for a near miss that will bring it within 23,000 miles of the surface of the Red Planet.



But the unpredictable nature of comet orbits, which can change as jet-like geysers of steam erupt from their surfaces as they near the Sun, means it could pass further away, or veer into a direct collision course.

Respected astronomer Phil Plait, author of Slate's Bad Astronomy blog, has calculated that even if the comet is just nine miles across - a low estimate - an impact with Mars would cause a one billion megaton explosion.



That, he says, is 25million times larger than the largest nuclear weapon ever tested on Earth.

A bright comet show is also now on the way - Comet ISON may come close to outshining the moon in November.



It was discovered last September by Russian astronomers and got its acronym name from the International Scientific Optical Network.



Scientists have also identified a comet that is hurtling into our solar system from deep in space, and which could next year hit Mars with potentially catastrophic force.

Loudest ever infrasonic shockwave: This image from a Russian driver's dashboard camera shows the explosion caused as a meteorite burned up in the atmosphere over central Russia a fortnight ago

According to current calculations, comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) is set for a near miss that will bring it within 23,000 miles of the surface of the Red Planet.

But the unpredictable nature of comet orbits, which can change as jet-like geysers of steam erupt from their surfaces as they near the Sun, means it could pass further away, or veer into a direct collision course.

Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS as seen from Mount Dale, Western Australia. The lights on the distant horizon are from the city of Armadale, which is southeast of Perth



