After an historic geomagnetic storm this week, one that checked AURORA BOREALIS off many bucket lists and bingo cards, the sky has seen it fit to offer up another rare treat. If you have never seen a comet before, read more because in the days ahead we are going to change that, but a little about this week in general. The evening of October 9th something bright began to enter the view of SOHO’s Coronagraph. The spacecraft is roughly 1 million miles away from Earth and spends all its time watching the Sun and sending it’s findings hone. SOHO images the Sun’s corona by creating an artificial eclipse. It is one of the most important tools for tracking activity on the Sun.
As the comet C/2023 A3 TSUCHINSHAN-ATLAS, which I will unapologetically refer to as A3 from here forward, dazzlingly inched towards center frame there was suddenly an explosion in the background. The stars seemed to multiply in an instant and streamers which themselves resembled baby comets winked in and out of existence. A powerful solar flare had erupted near the center of the Earth-facing sun and radioactive protons were flung at near light-speed towards SOHO saturating the camera sensor and creating snowy artifacts the same way a picture of the elephant’s foot at Chernobyl would. The halo shockwave that emerged from every point around the artificial eclipse meant a substantial coronal mass ejection had been released, and it was headed straight for Earth.
Two nights later we witnessed the spectacular result as that shockwave slammed into the Earth’s magnetic field. Thursday’s geomagnetic storm was the second of this year which will make it into the history books. Southern Maryland spent almost all night under a thick blanket of clouds during the storm of May 10-11. Exactly 5 months later, we joined much of the rest of the world in raising our phones to the sky, capturing stunning images of the Aurora, and not even a week later another special treat is on its way to grace our night sky.
As A3 passed between Earth and the Sun, it transitioned from a predawn object seen best from the Southern Hemisphere to an early night object for the Northern. Spectacular viewing opportunities should begin to shape up any day now. These are my best viewing tips.
If there is a place where you get a decent view of Sunsets, this is ideal. A3 is very bright right now in magnitude, but it is still quite close to the sunset and this makes it hard to see with the naked eye. Every night A3 gets a little more hang time in the sky before it too sets in the west, meaning the sky it occupies will becone darker, making the comet appear brighter even though it is dimming.
With the sunset occuring around 6:30 right now and getting a little earlier each day, A3 is setting around 8pm and setting later each day. Look almost exactly to the place where the sun has set, then upwards from there and slightly left to scan for A3 in the night sky. Venus will also be to your left at this time.
Star apps such as Starwalk 2, which is my favorite, can be very helpful. It isn’t required though, this comet is going to reveal itself to us in time and provided you have a clear sky not inundated with light pollution, you should have no problem whatsoever. Pictures have already begun to show up in social media feeds, don’t miss the opportunity to take your own!