Comet on 81,000-year trip becomes a new light in the night sky

TOPEKA ( KSNT ) – Earth has a visitor from afar this year that is making its way across our solar system for a once-in-81,000-year flyby, possibly for the first and last time in modern human history.

Brenda Culbertson, Solar System Ambassador with NASA, told 27 News people looking up at the night sky in October might notice a new light burning in space. This is from the comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, otherwise known as A3, which is currently visible to people living in the southern hemisphere.

Culbertson said the comet will become “a nice evening object” for people looking in the western sky in the northern hemisphere around mid-October in the early morning hours. As the comet moves through our solar system, it may become something people can see at night without the aid of a telescope.

“The comet has been growing in brightness, but comets are highly unpredictable,” Culbertson said. “If this comet survives its close approach to the Sun, it should brighten significantly, becoming visible to the unaided eye, but as far as being a daytime object, that is unknown at this time.”

NASA Astronauts Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit have been posting photos and time-lapse videos of the comet from their vantage point above Earth to social media. You can check out some of their photos in the slideshow below.

This comet has a large orbit, calculated at around 81,000 years. Astronomers who see the comet this year will be the only ones in modern history to do so before it disappears from view again.

“In mid-October, people should start looking in the western sky after the sky is dark,” Culbertson said. “Finding an unobstructed western view, in a dark place, people should be able to see it.”

Culbertson recommends choosing a night in the middle of October when the moon is not visible in the sky and there is no cloud cover to boost your chances of seeing the comet. Chances of seeing the comet improve if it completes its voyage past the sun with the possibility it could be seen during the day.

“Comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS may not be the “Comet of the Century”, but it should still be a good sight,” Culbertson said. “The bit ‘if’ is whether or not it will survive as it goes around Sun on its orbit. If it does survive, it will approach Earth in mid-October and should be very bright with the possibility of being visible in the daytime. We don’t know what a comet will do until we see it happening, but predictions tell us that it should be a very bright, evening object and will be visible higher in the western, evening sky as October goes on. Here in Kansas, we should be able to see it nicely. Just stay tuned for more information.”

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