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Viewing Comet Tsuchinshan

Orange Gerald
@Jose
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With the exception of Comet Neowise a few years ago, comets invariably disappoint me. Or sometimes the weather is the cause of disappointment. Sunday night I was able to see Comet Tsuchinshan with the naked eye, which is a second in my lifetime.

The most important factor is proper pronunciation of the name Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which, according to Sky and Telescope, is pronounced choo-cheen-SHAHN.

With that out of the way, and weather permitting, view the comet low above the western horizon tonight. Last night it was very faint but clear after 8 pm. It has a very long tail extending "up." I was able to it view through binoculars, which gather more light but holding them steady is difficult — it helped to lean against my vehicle. It was also necessary to drive out of town. The moon is bright enough by itself to wash out the comet.

Don't delay because the comet is quickly moving away from Earth, and won't be back for 80,000 years.

The brightest thing above the western horizon, and visible immediately after sunset, is Venus. Wait until 8 pm and look a little to its right and a bit higher than the planet of women. Or refer to the handy map at the foot of the Sky and Telescope article found here.

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Discussion (18)

  • Unburdened Gerald@Jose
    ReplyingtoOldPhil

    OldPhil (View Comment):

    Eh, they should name ’em like hurricanes. Milton, Blanche, Erwin, Steve, etc.

    Comets are named for their discoverers. Per the article referenced above:

    The comet came by its name from its discovery at both China's Purple Mountain Observatory (tsuchinshan means "purple mountain") and South Africa's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). The two teams picked up the comet independently in early 2023, when it was still beyond Jupiter's orbit and some 50,000 times fainter than the faintest stars visible to the unaided eye.

  • CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill@CarolJoy

    Thank you for the pertinent info which hopefully this one time, will allow us to view something spectacular.

    But I am not counting on it.

    I live in a region of continually clear skies.

    Except of course for any day or night when social media encourages me to look up at the skies to be delighted, along with everyone, of the following events:

    1. historic eclipse, which will not occur again for 223 years

    2. Northern Lights, which last appeared in our skies 5 years ago

    3. comets

    4. rare "super moon" with strange lavender shading

    5. meteor showers, said to be more pronounced this year over any other

    And if those are about to occur, a veil descends and all we get to see is this:

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