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A comet that hasn’t been seen for tens of thousands of years is dancing close to Earth – with the possibility of seeing it with the naked eye. Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was discovered in January last year and it is thought that it only visits the inner solar system every 80,000 years – meaning it was last seen when Neanderthals were walking the planet.
According to the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), the excitement has been such that some have labelled it the “comet of the century”. While spotting it with the naked eye is possible, it’s “not very likely” and a pair of binoculars is recommended.
That’s according to the Royal Astronomical Society’s Dr Robert Massey, who said: “We’re all really excited about the prospect of the Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) and how it might just be a nice bright object in the night sky. I would think that you’re going to need a pair of binoculars to pick it out, or a telescope if you have the right kind of telescope with a wide field and you know exactly where to look. But who knows, it might be visible to the naked eye as well. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
The RAS said Comet A3 came from what is known as Oort Cloud – a giant spherical shell surrounding our solar system which is home to billions of objects, including comets. People in the southern hemisphere have already had a glimpse of Comet A3, but from now it can also be seen in the northern hemisphere.
When and how to see Comet A3
Wednesday, October 2, marked the end of the first window in which to spot it. It was visible to the east just before sunrise. If you missed it, the next window is between October 12 and 30. This, the RAS said, will be the prime chance to see it, this time by looking to the west just after sunset.
Dr Massey said: “People are asking whether this will be some kind of ‘comet of the century’ – if you read some news outlets they imply that. I don’t personally think that’s very likely. I think it’ll be a nice comet – and it looks as though it’s holding up for that – but it’s unlikely to be as easy to see as NEOWISE was in 2020 or Hale-Bopp in the late 1990s, which many of us still remember as being a really dazzling object.”
Dr Massey had some suggestions for those hoping to snap a picture of Comet A3. He said a good DSLR camera that can take a series of exposures was the key.
For those without pro equipment, he suggested: “Also, if you have a good mobile phone camera and a small telescope, you can hold the mobile phone against the eyepiece of the telescope and try to take a picture that way. That worked well with comets like NEOWISE and it might work well with this one, depending on how bright it is. And if it’s genuinely easy to spot, you might, might be able to pick up your mobile phone, rest on something, and just point and shoot.”
