Year of the Comet
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS information

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

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The Sky This Month

Venus and Mercury peak

January 2009: Both Mercury and its inner-planet sibling, Venus, reach greatest elongation this month. There's no better time to view these two worlds.
By Alister Ling
By Martin Ratcliffe
Published: November 24, 2008
The International Year of Astronomy opens with Mercury and Jupiter next to each other in the southwest shortly after sunset. Both Mercury and its inner-planet sibling, Venus, reach greatest elongation this month. There's no better time to view these two worlds. Venus stands far above Mercury, and a waxing crescent Moon accompanies them ­during the year's first week.

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