How to see a once-in-a-lifetime comet Saturday and beyond
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Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was visible during sunrise at Monfrague National Park in Spain on Sept. 30. Photo: Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Look to the night sky on Saturday for the best chance to see a comet that won't be back for another 80,000 years, according to NASA.
The big picture: The comet, known as C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, is expected to be closest to Earth on Oct. 12, when it's 44 million miles away.
- If you can't spot it Saturday night, don't fret: NASA says it will be visible nightly through the end of October.
When and where to see Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
The intrigue: The comet was first discovered in 2023 by observers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in China and an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System(ATLAS) telescope in South Africa, NASA said.
Zoom in: Bill Cooke, lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, told NPR the comet will appear low on the western horizon about 45 minutes after sunset each day starting Saturday, Oct. 12, through the end of the month.
- The comet is expected to fade the week before Halloween or around Halloween, Cooke said, noting it depends on how bright it is.
How to see the rare comet
What we're watching: The comet should be bright enough to see with the naked eye, though binoculars and telescopes should give a better view.
- "Comets look OK to the unaided eye, but with a pair of binoculars, they'll knock your socks off," Cooke told NPR.
Northern lights and aurora Borealis sightings
This week's auroras, also known as northern lights, continue into Friday and possibly beyond, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in an Oct. 11 watch.
- Auroras often look like blowing curtains as green, red, and purple light shifts.
The latest: The latest alert says the aurora "may be seen as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon" Friday.
- See aurora pictures from across the U.S. and the world.
October full moon
What's next: October's full moon is called the "Hunter's Moon" and is considered a "supermoon."
- The Moon will appear nearly full Oct. 13-14 but it will officially be full on Oct. 17 at 7:26am EDT, per Space.com.
Supermoon refers to a full or a new moon rising near or while the moon reaches perigee, its closest distance to Earth in its orbit around the planet, according to NASA.
Orionid meteor shower
The Orionid meteor shower is expected to peak around Oct. 20-21 and most visible between midnight through before dawn, according to EarthSky.org.
- This meteor shower is an annual event at the end of October when the Earth passes through meteoroids left behind by Halley's Comet.
- The American Meteor Society says the meteor shower will be active until Nov. 22.
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