Stargazers have been in for fairly a deal with!

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, often known as C/2023 A3, has made its solution to the Northern Hemisphere after showing within the Southern Hemisphere over the weekend. It is at the moment shining at a magnitude of +0.5—nicely inside the grasp of the human eye.

Here’s all the pieces it’s good to find out about this comet, which solely comes round as soon as each 80,000 years.

What Is Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS?

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a long-period comet that was first found by astronomers utilizing the Tsuchinshan Observatory in China. This comet is notable for its spectacular return to the internal photo voltaic system, occurring solely as soon as each 80,000 years, which has earned it the nickname “comet of the century.” It can be the brightest of its sort since Comet NEOWISE, which was seen to the bare eye, even in massive cities, again in 2020.

NASA describes comets as “cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbit the sun.” As a comet’s orbit brings this “dirty snowball” near the Sun, it heats up and ejects gases and dirt, creating the looks of a large glowing head. A comet’s head can look as massive or bigger than many planets within the sky. The comet’s tail, composed of gases and dirt, can stretch a number of million miles away from the solar; within the case of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, its tail is estimated to be round 18 million miles lengthy.

When and How Can I See the Comet?

If you wish to see this once-in-a-lifetime comet, time is working out.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS first appeared on Saturday, Oct. 12, and shall be seen by way of the tip of the month, in response to NASA. However, as the times go, the comet will seem dimmer and tougher to see with the bare eye, because it strikes increased within the sky every evening, drifting away from the solar and out of the photo voltaic system.

Tonight, Oct. 17, could also be significantly difficult for comet watchers as a result of supermoon, which is able to wash out a few of the comet’s tail. Still, it’s price a take care of sundown, mentioned NASA’s Bill Cooke. “Most astronomers hate the full moon because its bright light interferes with observing other objects. So it’s a bit hard for us to wax poetic about it, even if it’s the biggest supermoon of 2024,” he famous in an e mail assertion.

To catch a glimpse of the comet from the Northern Hemisphere, look west about 45 minutes after sundown; will probably be just under and to the precise of Arcturus, a vivid crimson large star within the constellation Boötes.