Don’t Miss the Stunning Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: When to See It Live from Earth This October!

A comet will soon be visible from Earth. This comet is called Tsuchinshan-ATLAS and it will come closer to Earth than Venus between October 11 and 15 and will be visible to the naked eye. Comedy may have a long beautiful tail. This comet is a unique opportunity to see.

Comets are one of the most interesting objects in astronomy. Comets are a type of sphere consisting of a mixture of ice crystals, dust and grit. As soon as such a comet comes close to the sun, the ice begins to evaporate. This creates a typical tail of evaporating ice particles on the comet.

Comets have been observed since ancient times and with modern techniques, science has learned much more about these celestial phenomena. The nucleus of a comet is no more than fifty kilometers and its origin can be found in the outer regions of our solar system.

How bright is the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS?

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be visible next week under clear conditions. The comet will then be far enough away from the sun and probably of good brightness. The level of brightness is represented by the so-called size, where a lower number means that the brightness is greater. In this article we will talk about brightness instead of size.

From brightness + 1.5 (and lower) you can visually see an object and this comet is expected to end up somewhere between 0 and -2. For comparison: we can always see the planet Venus well, which has a brightness of about -3.5. The full moon varies around a brightness of -14.

When to look?

The brightness will probably be at its best from October 11, but during the first few days the comet will be very low on the horizon after sunset. Sunset is shortly before 7pm and the best viewing time is around 45 minutes after sunset. Then look west with an unobstructed view, so without nearby buildings. The comet is then visible just above the horizon. Of course it is still twilight and that is something at the expense of the contrast. Clouds and smog can also throw a spanner in the works, but it’s best to read before then our weather forecast.

Increasingly higher, but less clear

In the following days, the comet will be visible longer and higher in the sky every evening, but at the same time it will also turn away from us and thus become brighter. The comet is expected to be no longer visible around October 15th. However, we are careful about this, because with this kind of phenomenon you don’t know exactly what will happen. It can also happen that it is much brighter than expected at the moment, but this can only be correctly identified a few days in advance.

Anyway, keep a close eye on the western sky after sunset from October 11th and you might see the comet with a beautiful long tail.