SAN ANTONIO – Astronomy lovers, rejoice! A comet will be visible over San Antonio through Oct. 18 at dusk.
KEY POINTS:
- 40 minutes after sunset
- Look west, just above horizon
- Find Venus (looks like a really bright star) and look a little to the right
- Viewing through binoculars and your phone camera help
- Only seen for a short time at dusk
- Clear skies expected Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday evenings. Some evening clouds could be possible Thursday and Friday
The comet will only be visible for a short time each evening at dusk (about 40 minutes after sunset), so the window of opportunity should be roughly 7:40pm-8:00pm. Ideally, find an open area away from city lights, look toward western horizon, find Venus (looks like a bright star), look a little right of Venus, and the comet should look like a hazy star with a small tail.
For the most precision, first spot Venus, then extend your left arm out in front of you with a closed fist. The comet should be two and a half fist lengths to the right of Venus.
Once spotted, binoculars will help you see it better (unlike the solar eclipse, this is SAFE to view)! You can use your phone’s camera to assist, too!
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which was discovered independently by two observation teams last year. One team was at China’s Purple Mountain Observatory and the other as South Africa’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). It’s basically a big chunk of dirty ice whizzing through space and coming within 44 million miles of earth. The sun essentially evaporates the ice causing a haze of dust and gases, which is visible to us because of the low sun angle at twilight relative to the location of the comet.
KSAT Viewers Share Pictures of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
If you’d like to send in your pictures of the comet, we’d love to see them! Be sure to post to KSAT Connect, and you might just see your pics on KSAT!
K. I. Stone
Comet and windmill five miles west of Sabinal on the RC Ranch.
