SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Mike Olason
Location of Photo:
Tucson, Arizona
Date/Time of photo:
18 May 2021, 0931 UT
Equipment:
11" SCT and STF-8300M CCD Camera
Description:
In these images Comet C/2017 Y2 (PANSTARRS) was magnitude 16.3, had a coma 12 arc seconds wide and was 363 million miles from Earth. The comet was at perihelion in it's orbit last November 2020 when it was 428 million miles from the Sun. The comet made 2 close approaches to Earth in July 2020 at 367 million miles and in May 2021 at 362 million miles when it brightened to magnitude 16 both times, it will now fade as it moves away from Earth.
