Skywatching Alert: Catch this rare, once-in-80,000 years comet before it disappears!

Oct 17, 2024

Credit: NASA

Rare comet in town!

If celestial wonders are your thing, this is the perfect time to turn your eyes to the sky. A rare cosmic visitor, Comet C/2023 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from the Oort cloud, is hurtling down its path and Earth has front-row seats to the spectacle!

Credit: iStock

Visibility post-sunset

The comet is visible about 45 minutes after sunset in the western sky. It is moving away from Earth but can still be spotted under the right conditions.

Credit: iStock

Closest approach

Comet C/2023 made its closest approach to Earth recently and is now over 75 million kilometres away.

Credit: iStock

Perihelion

The comet reached its perihelion (closest point to the Sun) on September 27, 2024. It is currently more than 93 million kilometres from the Sun.

Credit: iStock

Visible from India

Many Indian photographers have captured its bright head and millions-of-miles-long tail, contributing stunning images to social media. The comet has been successfully photographed from several parts of India, including Karnataka, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu and Kashmir.

Credit: @_51va/X

In Karnataka

One user on X (formerly Twitter) shared images of the comet from Gadag.

Credit: @TalkToDileep/X

Visuals from Kashmir

Another user captured the stunning comet from Srinagar, claiming that he could only see it with his naked eyes for a few seconds.

Credit: @LabeebGulzar/X

Limited time window

As the comet is now moving away from Earth, the opportunity to see it will gradually decrease in the coming days.

Credit: iStock

Origin and discovery

The comet comes from the Oort cloud, a distant spherical region surrounding the solar system that holds icy objects. It was discovered on February 22, 2023, and is named after the Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).

Credit: Dolanh/Flickr