Reports from Geisei Observatory <May 13, 2013>

Two bright comets in the predawn sky

    Comet PanStarrs, which has been shining brightly, is now visible as a circum-polar comet in the northern sky. On the morning of May 12, the comet was fairly bright and its tail was visible at 22x in the 15cm telescope mounted on the 70cm reflector. The photograph clearly shows its broad main tail as well as an anti-tail thrusting forward, which is rather unusual.

    Before the dawn, Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6) rises with Comet Iwamoto and shines so brightly that it can be mistaken for a new comet. On May 11, it was bright enough to be seen with the naked-eye or binoculars. Its well-defined coma and complex tail were impressive. Its brightness seems to have fallen slightly the following day on May 12. It is an unusual phenomenon and hasn't occurred recently that two visually observable comets are seen simultaneously.