Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Comet Sep-Oct 2024

[deluxestogie]

Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Comet has been dubbed the "comet of the century", since it may be visible to the naked eye in daylight! For members in the northern hemisphere:

At What Time Will the Comet Be Visible?​

Because of its proximity to the sun, the comet will behave similarly to Mercury and Venus: It will be seen near the horizon, in the path of the sun, and just before sunrise. An appropriate window to admire it will be between 5 am and 7 am from September 27 onwards. The timing and position will be similar across the northern hemisphere.​

​

As October progresses, the comet will elevate its position in relation to the horizon and at the same time lose brightness. Since Tsuchinshan–ATLAS is a long-orbiting body and comes from the Oort cloud, beyond the edge of the solar system, it will not appear again in our skies for tens of thousands of years.​

How to View the âComet of the Centuryâ C/2023 A3

September will see the appearance of C/2023 A3, also known as Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, that has traveled for tens of thousands of years through the solar system.

www.wired.com

For members in the southern hemisphere, you'll have to check your local sources for when and where to view it.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I've found the statements about locating the comet to be confusing and sometimes contradictory. The comet is indeed now moving farther from the sun with each passing day, so one might think it would just move higher and higher in the sky before sunrise each morning. Unfortunately, Earth is orbiting the sun in the opposite direction from the path of the comet, and will soon be in a position in which the sun is between us and the comet. Our view of the comet will be progressively blocked by the sun after the 29th of September.

"The view is about to improve. Every day this week, the comet will climb higher in the morning sky, peaking in altitude between Sept. 26th and 29th, as high as 16 degrees for some observers. It will also increase in brightness. 'The comet seems to brighten half a magnitude every few days!' says Schur, who estimates its current magnitude to be +3.5. Extrapolating, that means it could be about as bright as a first magnitude star by this weekend."​

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I have a feeling this "Comet of the century" will be kind of difficult to see, unless you are closer to the equator than I am. Below is (I think) 6:30 am Eastern Daylight (?) Time on Saturday morning (28 Sep 2024), looking East in Virginia.

Note the location of the crescent moon (upper center) and the sun just below the horizon. The constellation Leo is center left. You would need a fairly "dark sky" area, and a cloudless and flat eastern horizon.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Here's my last attempt at figuring out where this "comet of the century" can be seen. In the arcane graph below (prepared by Nick James of the British Astronomical Association), I've added a yellow line of the approximate curve for the latitude of Virginia.

As a reference, the width of your fist, held out at arm's length, is about 10°.

Bob

 

[adamziegler]

I have a feeling this "Comet of the century" will be kind of difficult to see, unless you are closer to the equator than I am. Below is (I think) 6:30 am Eastern Daylight (?) Time on Saturday morning (28 Sep 2024), looking East in Virginia.

Note the location of the crescent moon (upper center) and the sun just below the horizon. The constellation Leo is center left. You would need a fairly "dark sky" area, and a cloudless and flat eastern horizon.

Bob

What website did you use to make that image?

 

[deluxestogie]

I forgot to include the link. It is:

A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky | TheSkyLive

TheSkyLive offers comprehensive information about the most interesting celestial objects, and a set of tools designed to support the exploration and observation activities for astronomy enthusiasts at every skill levels

theskylive.com

You have to fiddle, and set the time, etc., for those time and date controls to appear.

Bob

 

[adamziegler]

No go for me this morning. I had a window when I could see stars through the clouds a bit, but that changed to completely overcast before the comet was high enough.

 

[deluxestogie]

In the southeastern US, there is a bit of cloud cover at the moment. My most promising window is tomorrow (Saturday) morning, when the cloud cover is expected to be about 25%, though there is no prediction of where that cloud cover will be located. The comet may have to just do its thing, without our assistance.

Bob

 

[HillDweller]

Dark and rainy here this morning, and likely to remain so for the next several days. Tends to happen whenever there is something interesting in the sky. Did at least clear up for that last eclipse. It was partial here but near total.

 

[deluxestogie]

I once climbed up Peters Mountain (at the Virginia-West Virginia boundary)—a high ridge along the Appalachian Trail, just east of Pearisburg, VA—in early April of 1997, to see the Hale-Bopp comet in the sky over West Virginia. Although it was gratifying to view the rare sight from a totally dark, isolated location, I think that most of the memory is the result of my day-long hike up, and day-long hike down the following morning.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I awakened at 05:30 this morning, dressed in the dark, and went out to the front porch. Stars! It was 55°F. I came back inside the darkened house, put on a down jacket, a pair of fingerless gloves and a cap, and blindly fumbled through my old washstand humidor. With a magical touch, I came up with a Consuegra #30 EMS, which offered a perfect draw after clipping.

Out on the porch, I flicked my BIC lighter—one eye closed, and the other squinting—to light up my smoke. There is a special quality to a cigar smoked as the sky hints at dawn.

My panorama was unusually free of ambient lights. That is because my house is among the select few with electrical power this morning. The outage map of my local power company shows nearly ¼-million customers without electricity. Another oddity was the distant sound of chain saws and small power generators starting-up at 06:30 in the morning.

I strolled about in the near darkness several times, to search for the comet, but without ever seeing it. By the time it should have been visible, the increasing daylight revealed a ground haze that would surely block it. When the birds in nearby trees began to chirp, I acknowledged that I would not be seeing the comet today. (By noon today, many consecutive days of cloudiness will return.) I smoked my cigar down to a nub.

The dawn was so lovely that it was easy for me to forget that just yesterday was spent worrying over torrential rains, the sounds of snapping branches, and the house shuddering in gusts of wind. I am among the fortunate. I still have power; the flooding here was minimal; the fallen branches are all manageable.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I am truly impressed at how confusing and contradictory the basic information on this particular comet has been, and from otherwise respected sources. Here is an article posted on phys.org this morning (Saturday, 28 Sep):

Up till now, you had to be in the southern hemisphere to hope to see it with the naked eye. But on Friday evening it is projected to cross as close to the sun as it will get, before returning towards Earth. From October 13 the comet will be visible in the northern hemisphere. If the weather is right "it will jump to the eye" every night "in the direction of the setting sun"...​

Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky sun flypast

A comet is expected to risk having its tail clipped on Friday by flying perilously close to the sun, promising fireworks next month should it survive the fraught flypast.

phys.org

So the comet has not yet passed closest to the sun, and it may yet be visible in mid-October.

Bob

 

[adamziegler]

confusing and contradictory the basic information

I am glad it is not just me. One article went on and on about how visible it was going to be on a certain day because of a certain situation and then immediately followed it up with "or it might not be viable at all."

 

[deluxestogie]

One inexcusable source of the confusion is semi-scholarly articles using relative dates (e.g. "on Friday", "next week", "soon", etc.) instead of specific dates.

The following appeared on spaceweather.com this morning (28 Sep 2024):

"COMET TSUCHINSHAN-ATLAS IS HEADING FOR EARTH: Yesterday, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) made its closest approach to the sun. Now, its heading for Earth."​

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Better:

"Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS could become very bright indeed. On Oct. 9th, it will pass between Earth and the sun. Sunlight will be forward scattered by comet dust, amplifying the comet's brightness to negative magnitudes. If the most optimistic predictions ( m < -5.0) come true, it could be visible even in broad daylight..."​

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

Bob

 

[HillDweller]

I once climbed up Peters Mountain (at the Virginia-West Virginia boundary)—a high ridge along the Appalachian Trail, just east of Pearisburg, VA—in early April of 1997, to see the Hale-Bopp comet in the sky over West Virginia. Although it was gratifying to view the rare sight from a totally dark, isolated location, I think that most of the memory is the result of my day-long hike up, and day-long hike down the following morning.

Bob

I was in Northern California or Hale-Bopp. Very clear atmosphere and it put on quite the show. Haley was a letdown.

 

[deluxestogie]

in Northern California

I hiked alone in the darkness up to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais, just to watch an ordinary sunrise in April of 1979.

Bob

 

[HillDweller]

I hiked alone in the darkness up to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais, just to watch an ordinary sunrise in April of 1979.

Bob

Amazing views from Mt. Tam. Used to go up there during Fleet Week and watch the various navies and the tall ships sailing in. Saw the Blue Angels flying beneath me over the bridge, and what seemed like just a few feet overhead on other passes. Views of San Fran in one direction, more or less wilderness from other spots.

 

[deluxestogie]

"Those hoping to spot comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should venture outside about an hour after sunset on a clear night and look to the west. The comet should be visible from both the northern and southern hemispheres."​

Tsuchinshan-Atlas comet visible with naked eye this month

Prepare to spot a rare, bright comet. The space rock is slinging toward Earth from the outer reaches of the solar system and will make its closest pass on Saturday. It should be visible through the end of October, clear skies permitting.

phys.org

Maybe.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

If you happen to have a cloudless sky to the west, look west about 40 minutes after sunset.

Bob