Wednesday, October 09, 2024

You Can See the Comet of the Year Starting Friday Night

Astronomers say Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will likely be visible to the naked eye this weekend in the U.S. Here's how and where to see it.

Posted by LampLighter at 07:33 PM | 9 COMMENTS | permalink

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From strong northern lights to a historic total solar eclipse, 2024 has been quite a year for sky watchers -- and it's not over. Starting Friday evening, a bright comet predicted to be visible to the naked eye will treat stargazers across the northern hemisphere. It was last seen 80,000 years ago, during the time of Neanderthals, and it likely won't swing by earth again for another 80,000 years.

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-10-09 12:40 AM

More from the article...

... According to space scientists, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, or Comet C/2023 A3, is the most impressive space sight of its kind to dazzle our skies since comet Neowise in 2020. That it also might be visible to the naked eye is "quite rare," says Matt Hjelle, spokesperson for the stargazing app Sky Safari. "On average, you get a comet of this brightness roughly once in a decade." ...

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-10-09 12:41 AM

I remember, back in the mid-1990's, I was driving to visit a friend for a burger and a brew or two.

On the way to his house, I remember looking up into the sky and seeing the Hale-Bopp comet[1]. It was quite noticeable,

I stopped my car and stepped outside to look.

Wow.


Comets are cool.



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1 - Comet Hale"Bopp en.wikipedia.org


#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-10-09 12:50 AM

re: #3

Remember Heaven's Gate?

#4 | Posted by hamburglar at 2024-10-09 01:02 AM

@#4 ... Remember Heaven's Gate? ...

Yes, but I don't need to buy a t-shirt.

#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-10-09 01:38 AM

Heheh, well now you can remember Heaven's Gate with a special hat or jersey!!!

#6 | Posted by hamburglar at 2024-10-09 03:45 AM

Wow.

Comets are cool.

The Universe is chock full of cool stuff. The more we look the more cool stuff we see. And sometimes we even know something cool is there but we still can't see it. Yet.

Comets are very cool because they come from either the Oort Cloud or the Kuiper Belt depending on their orbital period and they contain ice and organic compounds and they may have contained the original "seeds" for life.

It's still very interesting that life originated on earth almost as soon (3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago) as the earth was cool enough at the surface for it to survive here.

#7 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-10-09 12:26 PM

I remember back in the 90's when the Hale-Bopp comet was large in the sky on a night with a full lunar eclipse. It was magical.

#8 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-10-09 01:09 PM

We went out towards Borrego and met up with a bunch of folks with telescopes for H/B

Completely coincidentally.

#9 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2024-10-09 03:27 PM

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