2013 has seen the visitation of plenty of comets around our little planet, but unfortunately I haven't managed to get eyeball on to any of them yet.
One useful outcome of this sudden interest in comets is that I have been prompted to work out how to add extra objects to Stellarium, so now I can research them on the computer at home or work and get some idea of what time to set my alarm and where I should be looking in the sky.
Comet PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) was visible low on the Western horizon at dusk in March - or so I believe. A conspiracy of cloudy evenings, work times and family schedule prevented me from even attempting to lay the scope on it.
Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6) was also up about about in March. I did attempt to spot this one evening in early March, but had no luck in spotting anything. Perhaps it was too faint for the light conditions?
Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) is now close to Mars in the morning sky, just before dawn. I've been out into the front yard once now at 5.30am to try to spot it. Still had to wait another 10 minutes for that part of the sky to rise above the houses around me and by then it had brightened to the point that Mars was hard to see - obliterating the comet.
I will try again in early November as the comet approaches the Sun.
This link to the Sydney Observatory blog has a useful diagram.
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is another comet that is up just at dawn. Currently it is just on the horizon a few minutes before dawn hiding behind the neighbour's houses and then getting lost in the sunlight.
I've only just heard about this comet, further research and Stellarium surfing will be required.
Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) I only just heard about today! A quick look on Stellarium shows that it is up at a more reasonable time of the morning (about 1am onwards) so at least the Sun is not a problem. However at Mag10, it probably is beyond the reach of Dobby and my Mk1 eyeball in city light conditions.
... and then there is Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Springs) which is going to skirt close enough to Mars in October next year that it may wipe out assorted probes in the cloud of debris. (yikes!)
