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Photographer:

Mike Olason

Location of Photo:

Tucson, Arizona

Date/Time of photo:

4 August 2021, 0716 UT

Equipment:

11" SCT and STF-8300M CCD Camera

Description:

In these images Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) was magnitude 13.3, had a Coma at least 0.014 degrees wide and was still 501 million miles from Earth. The comet will reach perihelion in it's orbit in December 2022 when it will be 167 million miles from the Sun. The comet will make it's close approach to Earth in July 2022 at 168 million miles. The comet may brighten to magnitude 6 in December 2022 but will only be visible at that time to observers in the Southern Hemisphere. The comet will not be visible in the Northern Hemisphere from the Fall of 2022 until the late Summer of 2023 when it will have faded to around magnitude 10.