NEW YORK (AP) – Prepare to spot a rare, bright comet.
The space rock is slinging towards Earth from the outer reaches of the solar system and will make its closest pass tomorrow. It should be visible through the end of October, clear skies permitting.
Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should be bright enough to see with the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will give a better view.
“It’ll be this fuzzy circle with a long tail stretching away from it,” said planetarium manager at the Bell Museum in Minnesota Sally Brummel.
Comets are frozen leftovers from the solar system’s formation billions of years ago. They heat up as they swing toward the sun, releasing their characteristic streaming tails.
In 2023, a green comet that last visited Earth 50,000 years ago zoomed by the planet again. Other notable flybys included Neowise in 2020, and Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in the mid to late 1990s.
The comet, also designated C/2023 A3, was discovered last year and is named for the observatories in China and South Africa that spied it.
It came from what’s known as the Oort Cloud well beyond Pluto. After making its closest approach about 71 million kilometres of Earth, it won’t return for another 80,000 years – assuming it survives the trip.
Those hoping to spot comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should venture outside about an hour after sunset on a clear night and look to the west.
