Comet soon visible to the naked eye in the night sky
Published: Sunday, Sep 29th 2024, 13:10
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Passing comets are rarely observable with the naked eye: Tsuchinshan Atlas is now approaching. The best view of it should be in mid-October - if you know where to look.
The cosmic visitor comes from the far reaches of the solar system and will soon be easily observable from Switzerland with the naked eye. The comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas - also known as C/2023 A3 - is currently approaching Earth. Its observation is still more for experienced amateur astronomers. From the beginning of the week and until the weekend, they could spot the celestial body in the east shortly before sunrise, with visibility improving from day to day.
Because the comet is getting closer: according to experts, it will disappear from the morning sky from October 5 or 6 and pass close to the sun for a few days before reappearing in the evening sky.
From around October 11, the visitor should be clearly visible to the naked eye from the German-speaking area - you should have a clear view to the west at dusk, preferably from a dark location. Because the comet has just passed the sun and is therefore vaporizing a lot of material, its tail could be particularly pronounced.
Observatories help with observation
The best view is likely to be from October 12 to 14. On the 13th, the comet's orbit reaches its closest point to the Earth at a distance of around 70 million kilometers - this corresponds to just under half the distance between the Earth and the Sun. In Switzerland, several observatories will open their doors on Astronomy Day on October 19 and will also help with the observation of Tsuchinshan Atlas.
From November, the visitor will probably no longer be visible to the naked eye. However, the experts cannot predict with complete certainty how good the visibility will actually be.
Tsuchinshan Atlas was discovered at the beginning of 2023 - the name comes from the telescopes in China and South Africa that first spotted it. The celestial body is one of the non-periodic comets that only come close to Earth again after a long period of time, if at all. The visitor comes from the Oort Cloud, a spherical collection of objects at the outermost edge of the solar system. The last time comet Neowise (C/2020 F3) was as bright as Tsuchinshan Atlas was in the summer of 2020.
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