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Posted

Look up, stargazers: A comet discovered last year is getting brighter as it makes its closest pass by Earth later this week, and this could be humanity’s last chance to see the comet before it disappears into the cosmic depths.

The celestial visitor is Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, or C/2023 A3 to scientists. Astronomers are expecting the comet to be especially vivid, possibly rivaling the brightness of Jupiter in the night sky. The comet is expected to be at its brightest on Wednesday and potentially visible through the end of the month.

“This one is, I would say, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Gianluca Masi, an astrophysicist based in Italy and the scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project. “This comet is for everyone.”

What is Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS?

Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, like all comets, is a frozen chunk of leftover material from the birth of the solar system. The comet begins to melt as it nears the sun, causing the ball of ice to sprout a diffuse tail.

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Posted

Visiting friends in Boonville, Missouri.  Here's how it looked tonight; Venus is low and left of the power pole.  iPhone makes it look clearer than the naked eye, just like the northern lights.

 

IMG_4196.thumb.jpeg.e420c833da3248ce4ddf4a3b225d9e2e.jpeg

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Posted

I tried to get a view of it. All 3 nights I tried I either had hills in the way or it was cloudy just enough that I couldn’t have seen the comet if I did find a vantage point. 
 

Oh well, maybe next time…80,000 years from now. :lol:
 

@J-BAR #18287 that is a fantastic photo of the comet. Thank you for posting it. :)

 

 

In ‘86 my wife and I got to see Halley’s Comet from a hilltop in Malibu, CA. I took some photos but none came out. 
It may return in 2061, but I highly doubt I will live to 100 to see it. I was born in 1961. 

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Posted
28 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

In either picture, is that just before dawn or just after sunset?


Right at sunset. Look for Venus in the evening sky. The comet will be a few degrees to the right of Venus. 

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Posted

i went out to look and saw the northern lights instead , it was a big deal here for a couple days , not near what i saw on my fly-in fishing trip to canada but pretty impressive , 

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