For the rest of this month and mid-October, the Comet of the Century, comet C/2023 A3 or Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, will be visible to observers. Although currently barely visible to the unaided eye, the comet’s visibility is expected to increase and become so bright that it “outshines the stars, Jupiter, and even Venus.”
During late September and the first few days of October, you can find Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas in the eastern sky with an unobstructed view to the horizon in Leo and near the constellations Hydra and Crater. The comet will be visible an hour before the Sun rises for viewing in the Northern Hemisphere. The comet will be visible even earlier and be easier to see for Southern Hemisphere viewers, although the best viewing was the first half of September:
Observers in the Southern Hemisphere had the best seats to view the comet during the first half of September. Observers closer to Earth’s equator will get their first opportunities by the end of the month.
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Overall Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet viewers will be able to view the comet today to early October and again about October 10 when the comet will reappear after being close to the sun or in perihelion stage:
For most of early October, Tsuchinshan-Atlas will be too close to the Sun to be easily visible. Then, starting around Oct. 10 — if all goes well — the comet should be visible after sunset near the horizon in the west. With every passing day, Tsuchinshan-Atlas will start the evening higher in the sky and be easier to spot, unless it gets too dim. You can determine how visible Tsuchinshan-Atlas will be by visiting the IAU Minor Planet Center or the Comet OBServation database (COBS).
The actual best time for comet viewing is considered to be mid-October if it survives its encounter with the sun:
In case the comet is still too dim to be visible to the unaided eye during perihelion, better opportunities should occur around mid-October, when the comet is closest to Earth and thus brighter.
October 12 is the date of closest approach to Earth.
Comet of the Century Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Trajectory, Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
First spotted in 2023, the comet was named for the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (or Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory) and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) who both discovered it.
