Mike Massee

Comet PanSTARRS and the crescent moon loom over a mountaintop row of wind turbines near Mojave, Calif., on Tuesday night. The pairing of the comet and the moon made for one of the year's best opportunities for astrophotography.

Two elusive superstars came out on Tuesday evening to greet their adoring fans — in L.A. and Vegas, as well as in California's Mojave Desert and the mountaintops of Arizona and California. As a matter of fact, observers around the world could catch a glimpse of Comet PanSTARRS and the barely lit crescent moon, as long as the skies were clear.

Like most superstars, Comet PanSTARRS doesn't always live up to its advance billing. For months, skywatchers have been looking forward to PanSTARRS as one of the top sights in the night sky. The long-period comet is now thought to be at its brightest, due to the fact that it has just come out of its close approach to the sun. But finding it has proved more difficult than expected, because it's so easily lost in the glare of sunset.

XCOR Aerospace's Mike Massee acknowledged that it wasn't easy to capture his comet shot, which was taken in the last light of dusk from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, where the XCOR rocket venture has its headquarters.

"At 7:20, neither the moon nor the comet were visible, but about five minutes later you could barely make out the sliver of the new moon. According to XCOR's resident astronomy guru, Randall Clague, the comet would appear about eight moon diameters to the left of the moon. So I set up an image with the moon on the right side of the frame and made some exposures," Massee said in an email.

"After a few minutes I could zoom in and see the comet in my camera, but not with the naked eye," he wrote. "As the sky grew darker the comet became more and more visible, and eventually you could just make out a fuzzy spot with your naked eye, but the camera was still the best way to review it after the shot was taken."

Over the next couple of weeks, Comet PanSTARRS will be better positioned for viewing by Northern Hemisphere observers in the western sky after sunset, but each night it's expected to grow dimmer. If there are clear evening skies, grab your binoculars and try to pick out PanSTARRS. This viewing guide can help.

While you're waiting for those dark, clear skies, check out this photo album, which includes a special shout-out to the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter's Adam Block and all those who contributed through NBC News' FirstPerson photo-upload website. 

Adam Block

The sunset glow lingers in the skies over Mount Lemmon SkyCenter in Arizona as Comet PanSTARRS and the crescent moon shine on Tuesday night. Even the dark portion of the moon glows faintly, due to reflected "Earthshine" from our own planet.

Gene Blevins / Reuters

David Schaefer of Pasadena, Calif., uses an iPad to help him spot Comet PanSTARRS over Southern California. The comet should be visible from the Northern Hemisphere until the end of March in western skies after sunset.

Gene Blevins / Reuters

Comet PanSTARRS takes its place next to the waxing crescent moon in the skies over Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Craig Yacks via FirstPerson

Craig Yacks says he took this photo of Comet PanSTARRS (left) and the moon (right) from Highlands Ranch, Colo., "as the clouds opened up just after sunset." The photo was taken with a Nikon D800 camera, set for ISO 1000 with a four-second exposure. "Zoomed in to give a better view of the comet and the moon," Yacks said.

Slideshow: Catch the coolest comets in the cosmos

Cast your eyes on pictures featuring PanSTARRS, Hale-Bopp and other crowd-pleasing comets.

Launch slideshow

More PanSTARRS photos from FirstPerson fans:

• Robert Schmidt from Newport News, Va.: "Comet PanSTARRS over the James River in Newport News. ... Spotty cloud cover made spotting the comet a bit difficult."
• John Melson from San Marcos, Calif.: "Comet PanSTARRS and the moon ... from Double Peak Park in San Marcos, taken with a Sony A77 at 7:43 p.m."
• Sergei Timofeevski from Carlsbad, Calif.: "Comet PanSTARRS next to young moon over the Pacific Ocean, San Diego, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, March 12, Nikon D7000, 110mm, f5.6, 8-second exposure, ISO 3200."
• Richard Dervan, Atlanta, Ga.: "PanSTARRS over midtown Atlanta."
• Kathy Newman, Rosamond, Calif.: "PanSTARRS and crescent moon."
• Michael Wood, Honolulu, Hawaii: "Comet PanSTARRS over Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Oahu, Hawaii."

Update for 7:15 p.m. ET March 13: So where's Comet PanSTARRS now? It's well below the moon, and you'll need binoculars to spot it. To get a fix on the comet, you can consult this sky chart from SpaceWeather.com.

Wednesday evening's images from Jens Riggelsen in Aarhus, Denmark, illustrate how tricky it can be to see the comet. The moon is high in the sky, but PanSTARRS is just a speck amid the glow of sunset. "The comet wasn't visible to the naked eye, but figured I might be able to capture it with the camera. And indeed, there it was," Riggelsen told SpaceWeather.com.

Can you spot the comet in this brand-new view from Jamie Cooper? 

Jamie Cooper

Comet PanSTARRS is a glimmer in the sky after sunset, far below and to the right of the crescent moon. This picture was taken by Jamie Cooper from Northampton in England on Wednesday.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log and NBCNews.com's science and space coverage, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Guillaume Blanchard / ESO

Comet Lovejoy streaks through the pre-dawn skies above the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile on Dec. 22.

If anyone questioned whether Comet Lovejoy would become the star of the season — and a lot of people did — the pictures of the past few days have removed any doubt. In the Southern Hemisphere, the death-defying comet is truly this year's "Star of Wonder."

Not only do we have an amazing video of the long-tailed iceball rising from the horizon, as seen from the International Space Station, we also have the stunning pictures and video released today by the European Southern Observatory. Skywatchers at the ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile captured the comet against the glittering backdrop of the Milky Way.

"For me, this comet is a Christmas present to the people who will stay at Paranal over Christmas," said Guillaume Blanchard, who snapped a picture of dawn at Paranal with the Milky Way and Lovejoy dominating the sky.

Gabriel Brammer put together a time-lapse sequence of the comet rising just before the sun. For devotees of the night sky, it's the latest must-see video. The clip also features the pencil-thin laser beam that Paranal's Very Large Telescope uses as a guide star for its astronomical observations. Expand the video to full screen to increase the awesomeness.

"With this spectacular sequence of the 2011 Christmas Comet Lovejoy, ESO would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," the observatory's staff says in today's image advisory.

Amen to that!

More about Comet Lovejoy:

• 'Amazing' view of comet from space
• Lovely Lovejoy! Comet shot at sunrise
• Sun rips comet's tail during close encounter
• Still more pictures from IceinSpace.com.au

Colin Legg

Australian photographer Colin Legg captured this photograph of Comet Lovejoy's tail flaring up from the horizon just before sunrise Wednesday.

We already know that Comet Lovejoy is a survivor, thanks to its death-defying spin around the sun last week, but now we're finding out it's a show-off as well. Here's a glorious picture of the comet's double tail, captured just before sunrise in Western Australia.

The picture is part of a must-see video sequence created by Colin Legg, who set up his camera looking southeast across the Mandurah Estuary, roughly 38 miles (60 kilometers) south of Perth. Legg has a knack for doing time-lapse photography of the night sky.

In a rushed email, Legg told me he made a last-minute decision to try taking pictures of the comet, based on reports that the tail was visible to the naked eye during morning twilight.

"Drove from Perth to Mandurah, slept in vehicle until 2:30 a.m., then set up two cameras, one for time-lapse, one for still images," he wrote. "Kept shooting till sunrise, then drove back to Perth. Hoping to do the same thing again tonight. First opportunity in almost six years to image and view a bright comet. Only visible in Southern Hemisphere while still bright. Last good comet in south was Comet McNaught. I was still shooting film back then."

The picture shows two tails: The fainter tail consists of ionized gas that is pushed almost directly away from the sun by the solar wind, while the brighter tail is made up of heavier material that more closely follows the comet's orbit. Check out this clickable Flash graphic to learn more about the anatomy of a comet.

Although the comet was shot at sunrise today, Lovejoy isn't finished just yet: "The visibility of both tails could improve in the days ahead as the comet moves away from the sun and the background sky darkens accordingly," SpaceWeather.com's Tony Phillips writes. "Early-rising sky watchers should be alert for this rare apparition."

Check out SpaceWeather.com for more of that lovely Lovejoy imagery — but first, take a look at Legg's Vimeo video, which brings the nearly full moon into the picture. Go full-screen HD for the best view:

Cometary hits and misses:

• 'Doomsday' comet just fades away
• Hubble probes a comet's heart
• NASA probe delivers glowing views of comet

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.