2024, October 12-15: Comet Alert – Viewing Tips for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

October 12-15, 2024: Comet Alert – Look for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS during evening twilight in the western sky.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
Photo Caption – 2024, October 15: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Comet Alert

Comet C/2023 A3Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is visible in the western sky during evening twilight as the moon waxes toward the Full moon phase.   After a display for southern hemisphere sky watchers and a brief appearance in the northern hemisphere’s morning sky, the comet is moving into the western evening sky north of the equator.

Comet NEOWISE, July 9, 2020
2020, July 9: Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE appears low in the northeast sky before sunrise.

While the comet has been visible to the unaided eye, predicting the view is premature.  First do not expect a brilliant display like Venus.  Secondly, the comet’s view is muted by the gibbous moon with moonlight spreading across the sky and dimming fainter bodies.

Think of a comet as a faint feather of light pointing upward from the western horizon after sunset.

A binocular is helpful to initially locate the comet that is vaporizing from sunlight.  The cometary mass, sometimes known as a “dirty snowball,” called the nucleus.  It appears somewhat starlike, surrounded by the vaporizing ices, known as the comet’s coma.  The tail is pushed away from the sun by the solar wind.

Here’s What to See:

Comet Alert
Chart Caption – 2024, October 12-15: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is shown in the western sky after sunset in the region between Venus and Arcturus.

Here’s what to look for during October 12-15:

Step outside 45 minutes after nightfall.  Locate brilliant Venus less than 10° up in the southwest.  Because of the planet’s low altitude – height above the horizon – find a clear view in its direction.  The planet is located over 15° to Antares’ lower right, the brightest star in Scorpius. The planet steps closer toward the Scorpion’s head, Dschubba, each evening.

Next, locate topaz Arcturus, the brightest star in the northern half of the sky, 20° up in the west and over 40° to Venus’ upper right. (Sirius is in the southern sky and the brightest of all the nighttime stars.)  The comet is in the region between Venus and Arcturus.

Comet Alert: Nightly Views!

October 12:  The gibbous moon is 74% illuminated. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS’s nucleus is about the same altitude as Venus, 25° to the right of the planet.

October 13: (Moon phase, 83%).  The comet’s nucleus is over 10° up in the west with its tail pointing upward. It is 25° to the upper right of Venus.

October 14: (Moon phase, 91%).  The nucleus is over 15° above the west-southwest horizon.  It appears between Venus and Arcturus.  The tail is pointing upward.

October 15: (Moon phase, 97%). The comet’s nucleus is about 20° up in the west-southwest with its tail pointing upward.  It is above an imaginary line from Venus to Arcturus.

Comet’s Brightness Prediction Imprecise

It is important to note that predicting a comet’s brightness is a very inexact science.  It may be spectacular, barely visible to the unaided eye, or only visible with a binocular’s optical assist.  Bright moonlight complicates the view.

The accompanying chart over-accents the view, primarily showing the location of the nucleus and the possibility of a noticeable tail.

Attempt to see this comet that is showing promise of a pretty view. (Fingers crossed.)

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