Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Ready For Viewing!

If you didn’t get a chance to spot Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS when it was a morning object, you still have a chance to catch it as an evening object. This is the brightest comet to pass by earth in some time. You’ll want to find a viewing place with a clear horizon to the west and be looking for it shortly after sunset which is currently 5:53 PM  EST here in Whitefield. By 6:30 PM it should be visible about 20° above the horizon, almost due west. You’ll  also see Venus, it’ll be quite bright. The comet will be a little to the right of and above Venus. You’ll also be able to see the moon and Saturn rising in the east. The comet has already swung around the Sun and is heading out of our solar system but it should remain visible for a few weeks. The comet is about magnitude 3.6 which makes it an easy naked eye object. Bring a pair of binoculars. Good luck!

Here’s a fun to use Star chart application:

https://stellarium-web.org/

More information about the comet:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153444/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-arrives-from-afar

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