Where and how to see comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS this week

Over the next week or more, night sky watchers will be able to watch Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS pass by Earth. Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled – it's not often that a comet is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye, and this particular comet won't be back for another 80,000 years.

To get so close to Earth, comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS traveled all the way from the Oort cloud at the edge of our solar system and survived its journey past the sun (where most comets are called “dirty snowballs” because of their size). icy constitution, crumbling under the intense heat).

“This is the brightest comet since Comet McNaught in 2006,” said Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at Marshall Space Flight Center Conde Nast Traveler. “18 years is a long time to wait for a highly visible comet.”

The rare celestial event will be visible throughout the remainder of October, with visibility peaking on October 9 and becoming less visible each day. Here's how to see comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS while you still have time.

Here's how to see the comet this week

To have the best chance of spotting the comet, look for it “low in the western sky about 45 minutes after sunset,” Cooke says. “It's currently set at around 8pm local time, so people have about an hour to take a look. As the nights progress, it becomes increasingly faint, requiring binoculars or a small telescope in 7 to 10 days.”

The comet is most visible north of the equator in areas without too much light pollution. That means observers in major U.S. cities may not be able to see Tsuchinshan ATLAS, but it is visible from the suburbs. The light from the full moon on October 17 will make it harder to spot the comet as the sky darkens in the second half of the month as the moon wanes.

“You should try to find the darkest sky possible – a trip to the countryside is definitely worth it,” says Cooke traveler. “I always recommend people use binoculars if they have them as they really improve visibility. But even an iPhone shows a very nice tail.”

What is a comet?

To best appreciate this rare comet sighting, it's helpful to understand what exactly you're seeing and how it compares to meteors and asteroids – fellow space travelers with their own unique qualities.