A Comet Not Seen In 80K Years Will Soar Past Earth This Month

Exciting things are happening this month. No, we are not just talking about Halloween. There will be a comet soaring past the earth that hasn’t been seen in over 80,000 years. Astronomers discovered this comet last year and are excitedly awaiting its arrival.

Special Comet Hasn’t Been Seen Since Time Of Neanderthals

Astronomers are ecstatic at the chance to see this rare comet. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-Atlas) will be appearing next month. Also, astronomers believe people will be able to see it with the naked eye. One thing that makes this comment so rare is that it hasn’t been seen in a long time. In fact, it has not been seen since the time of the Neanderthals.

Astronomers discovered this comet last year and believe that it orbits the sun every 80,000 years. So you are going to want to see this since the next sighting won’t be for quite some time. The Guardian shared some information on the comet’s origin.

“Dr. Gregory Brown, the senior public astronomy officer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said the comet was thought to have originated in the Oort cloud, which lies beyond Neptune’s orbit.” It made its way closer to the sun last month and astronomers believe that it will do the same thing around October 13.

Get Ready For Greatness

Brown explained that comets are brighter the closer they are to the sun and Earth. However, he warned excited viewers that “the closest approach isn’t necessarily going to be the brightest time.” With that, he said that although it is expected to pass on October 13, it could also happen closer to October 9.

With that range of dates, Brown suggests that the best time to look for the special space occurrence will be a few days before or after. It should appear almost “directly between the Earth and the sun.” He encourages people to get out there and view the rare sight.

He stated, “Naked-eye-visible comets are rare enough as it is, and this one has the potential to be amongst the brightest that we’ve seen in the last few decades. So it’s certainly worth a go.” Although astronomers do not know how bright the comet will actually be, they argue that it is already bright enough to see with the naked eye. Also, it is projected to keep getting brighter.

If you are interested in seeing this rare phenomenon, the best time to look for it is in the late evening, after sunset “looking west towards the constellation of Boötes.”

The source of the featured image is here .

The post A Comet Not Seen In 80K Years Will Soar Past Earth This Month appeared first on InspireMore .