For only a few more days, Comet PANSTARRS (named for the sky-scanning survey which discovered it back in 2011) has been putting on a beautiful show for the Southern hemisphere, just above the western horizon at sunset.  Auke Slotegraf has some excellent advice for those who’d like to try and see it themselves over at psychohistorian.org, along with some stunning photographs.  My own efforts at capturing a comet are a little more modest – I’m new at this game but learning fast.  To the left, you’ll see what I’ve managed, with a Canon 1100D and the lens it came with.  I think I can do a lot better, if I can just capture it a little later in the evening when it’s darker, and use a longer exposure.  Unfortunately, the last two nights I’ve been plagued with clouds, and probably only have one or two more days left before it slips below the horizon.  But here’s hoping!