Steve’s Virtual Planet

S.V.P. Comet News - C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

Comet C/2023 A3 is in the news over the last few weeks and with a lot of due excitement. It was discovered independently by two different observatories in early 2023 and also goes by the proper name of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS to recognize the co-discoverers. It may end up being one of the better visible comets in the last few years.

C/2023 A3 has been clearly visible naked eye from the southern hemisphere and there are already dozens of great images posted around the internet. Lucky for us in the northern latitudes, the comet will soon emerge from the glare of the sun so we can see it in the northern hemisphere. If you have a good view to the west, by October 12 it should be getting into view in eastern Virgo.

It’s currently fairly bright, about magnitude 3 as of this writing. It should reach an easy to see mag 2.6 on October 7 but will then dim gradually over the next few weeks. Nevertheless, it promises to still put on quite a show in the next month or so. It will climb higher in the sky through Serpens in mid October and into Ophiuchus during November.

If you need a sky map to find the comet, I recommend using this great tool at In-The-Sky.org. You can set the options for time span and the generate a map that can be download for printing.

The SpaceWeather.com web site has been carrying frequent reports and the now have a growing collection of images in their image gallery. You can also check out these sites for lots of good updates- Astronomy magazine, Space.com.

first published on Sep 26, 2024