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Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should be bright enough to see with the
naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will give a better
view.
"It'll be this fuzzy circle with a long tail stretching away
from it,” said Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the Bell
Museum in Minnesota.
What is a comet?
Comets are frozen leftovers from the solar system’s formation
billions of years ago. They heat up as they swing toward the
sun, releasing their characteristic streaming tails.
In 2023, a green comet that last visited Earth 50,000 years ago
zoomed by the planet again. Other notable flybys included
Neowise in 2020, and Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in the mid to late
1990s.
Where did comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas come from?
The comet, also designated C/2023 A3, was discovered last year
and is named for the observatories in China and South Africa
that spied it.
It came from what’s known as the Oort Cloud well beyond Pluto.
After making its closest approach about 44 million miles (71
million kilometers) of Earth, it won't return for another 80,000
years — assuming it survives the trip.
Several comets are discovered every year, but many burn up near
the sun or linger too far away to be visible without special
equipment, according to Larry Denneau, a lead researcher with
the Atlas telescope that helped discover the comet.
How to view the comet
Those hoping to spot comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should venture
outside about an hour after sunset on a clear night and look to
the west.
The comet should be visible from both the northern and southern
hemispheres.
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