Comet PanSTARRS, Moon, and Venus
			
		
		
			Image Credit & Copyright:  
Amit Kamble 
(Auckland Astronomical Society);  Rollover Annotation:  Judy Schmidt
		
		
			It is the object to the left of the big tree that's generating much recent excitement.
If you look closely, there you can see 
Comet PanSTARRS, complete with 
two tails.
During July, this comet has 
increased markedly in brightness and has just 
passed its closest approach to Earth.
The statuesque tree in the center is a 
Norfolk Island Pine, 
and to either side of this tree are 
New
Zealand Pohutukawa trees.
Over the trees, far in the distance, are 
bright Venus and an even brighter crescent 
Moon.
If you look even more closely, you can find 
Jupiter hidden in the branches of the pine. 
The featured image was taken a few days ago in 
Fergusson Park, 
New Zealand, looking over 
Tauranga Harbour Inlet.
In the coming days and weeks, 
Comet C/2014 Q1 (PANSTARRS) 
will slowly move away from the Sun and the Earth, 
drift deep into southern skies, and fade.