Category Archives: Comets

A celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun.

Comets

Comet (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

The Bright Comet of 2024

Comet A3
Comet C2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) on Oct. 13, 2024

The anticipated brightening of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) for northern hemisphere observers began in late September 2024. True to predictions the comet brightened as it entered the inner solar system and approached perihelion. The comet was poised for a great showing in the evening sky after sunset for a week to ten days beginning on October 12, 2024.

Comet A3
Comet C2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) Oct. 12, 2024

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) moved into the constellation Serpens Caput by Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. It was only a little over 1 degree (The width of the tip of your little finger at arm’s length) away from the globular cluster M5 on this evening. The following is a screen capture of the comet and M5 as predicted in Stellarium.

CometA3 and M5 on Oct. 15, 2024
Comet A3 and M5 on Oct. 15, 2024

The weather was not the best on Tuesday evening October 15, 2024. We had a cool front blowing through with 15-25 mph gusts and the Moon was just about full helping to wash out the comet but I managed to get ten 5 second shots that I could stack in Sequator along with 5 darks. I did some processing in Adobe Camera RAW and the result is below.

Comet A3
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) and globular cluster M5.

The shot above has a couple of things going for it. It reveals the globular cluster M5, the faint smudge to the right of the comet’s nucleus and you can just make out the anti-tail stretching down in front of the comet. The anti-tail appears to protrude from the opposite direction of the normal tail that is easily seen stretching upward in the photo. I used a Sky Watcher Star Adventurer 2i to track the comet, Nikon 5100 and Nikon telephoto lens to shoot A3.

You can find a few more images I took of Comet A3 and additional details about the comet on my dedicated Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) page.

Astrophotography, Comets

COMET NEOWISE GRACES THE EVENING SKY

Comet NEOWISE continues to perform well as it rises higher in the evening sky. Look for it getting higher in the NW over the next week just after dark.  Check out my previous post for a finder chart.

I was fortunate enough to get to dark skies (Bortle Class 2) this past weekend and was able to image NEOWISE with my Nikon D5100. I also used a GoPro Hero 8 Black to get nightscape time-lapse footage of the comet as it set with Ursa Major, the big dipper just above it.

Continue reading COMET NEOWISE GRACES THE EVENING SKY →

Comets

Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3

Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is peaking for observers in the northern hemisphere in early July.  As I type this the comet is a morning object rising in the northeast at about 4:45 a.m. CDT. The brightening of the sky as dawn approaches means the early bird gets the worm. You will not have much time to get your shot until the comet is washed out should you hope to photograph the comet.

Over the next few days NEOWISE will dive lower in the sky until it emerges as an evening object in the northwest sky. If the comet holds it current magnitude and does not suffer the same fate as others that came before it, namely Comet Atlas, then sky watchers should continue to enjoy this celestial interloper well into the month.

Continue reading Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3 →

Comets

COMET SWAN (C/2020 F8)

Comet SWAN
Click to view full image

Comet SWAN observing opportunities are here! That also means getting up early, and most importantly, having an unobstructed view of the north-eastern horizon to see it. Tomorrow, Monday morning, May 18th the comet will be at it’s highest for us northern hemisphere observers. The attached image courtesy of Stellarium shows Comet SWAN’s position at 5:15 a.m. CDT as seen from the DFW area each morning this week with the tick marks moving right to left. Notice it drops lower in the sky each morning. Tomorrow morning looks best for this week as does the weather. Use binoculars or a telescope for the best view as the comet is currently mag +5.8 or just barely above naked-eye visibility under dark skies. Additionally, the comet will be at it’s best as morning twilight starts, so be early and find it quick as it’ll be lost in the brightening sky as the minutes tick away. Happy hunting!

Continue reading COMET SWAN (C/2020 F8) →

Comets

COMET ATLAS (C/2019 Y4)

When Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) was discovered on December 28, 2019 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) it was a very dim magnitude +20 object however, once it’s orbit was calculated it was initially tagged as a “comet to watch” in 2020. Comets are fickle objects, and while the message was sent and received by the astronomical community, most astronomers (professional and amateur alike) knew the standard caveat that precedes such news. Comets are like cats. Predicting their behavior is a risky business.

Best described as dirty snowballs with highly elliptical orbits they typically blossom as they get closer to their parent star. This blossoming occurs when solar radiation causes the nucleus of the comet to sublimate forming a coma or shroud of gas and dust to form around the speeding comet. The closer the comet gets to the Sun usually the more material is spewed, and the classic “comet tail” forms trailing the icy body and always pointing away or perpendicular from the Sun.

Continue reading COMET ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) →

Comets, Planets

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova

As 2016 comes to a close corks will be popping and fireworks firing to be sure. But make sure in all the excitement you don’t miss the celestial fireworks!

There will be the opportunity for you to see periodic Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in the constellation Capricornus.  This comet has an orbital period of just 5.25 years that takes out to Jupiter’s orbit before plunging back toward the Sun.

The best time to view will be just after sunset on new years eve, December 31, 2016. The south-western sky will be filled with other great objects for you to observe besides the comet including the Moon, Venus, Mars and Neptune.

Comet P45
Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova on December 31, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. CST as seen from DFW

The sky chart above shows Comet 45P at about 21 degrees above the horizon and roughly 5 degrees away from the Moon. This will make for great viewing with binoculars or a telescope.

In early February this comet will pass within 0.1 AU of the earth. It is predicted to reach maximum brightness of magnitude ~7 in early January.

Continue reading Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova →

Comets

Comet Catalina C/2013 US10

CometThe colder nights are upon us now and that means crisp, clear, bug-free viewing for us in the southwestern U.S. It just so happens a dirty snowball will grace our skies as well. Comet Catalina C/2013 US10 will be making its way higher into the northern skies in December and January. There will be a great photo-op on New Years Day, January 1, 2016 when Catalina will be snuggled up next to the fourth brightest star in the sky, orange giant Arcturus in the constellation Bootes.

Catalina at Arcturus 1/1/2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovered on Halloween in 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey the comet will be closest to Earth on January 12, 2016 at 66.9 million miles. That’s over two-thirds the distance from the Earth to the Sun in case you are keeping track at home kids.

Continue reading Comet Catalina C/2013 US10 →

Comets

A Winter Comet to Watch

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2, is heading our way out of deep space and gliding up out of the southern sky. Estimates have it brightening to 5th magnitude by late December through much of January as it climbs into excellent viewing position for those in the northern hemisphere. This means a naked-eye comet could be visible this winter.

Continue reading A Winter Comet to Watch →

Comets

Comet ISON: Boom or Bust?

When Comet ISON, or more accurately C/2012 S1 ISON, was first discovered on September 21, 2012 it presented itself in images taken with a 16-inch telescope belonging to the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON). This group is made up of several observatories around the globe specialized in finding asteroids. Comet ISON was found 625 million miles from the Earth (roughly 6.5 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun) and was extremely faint at magnitude +18.

For over a year now since it was discovered it has continued to venture into the inner solar system on course to having a close encounter with the Sun. It will reach perihelion on November 28, 2013, at a distance of only 1.1 million miles from the Sun. By comparison the planet Mercury (the closest planet to the Sun)  can get as close as  28.5 million miles from the Sun. So ISON will get extremely close to the Sun and for all intents and purposes it will be a sun-grazing comet.

Comet ISON on 11/03/2013 taken by FWAS member Ben Hudgens from near Stephenville, TX.

At this posting ISON is currently magnitude +9.5 and only brightened slightly over the month of October. The hope is that trend will change as the comet continues to get closer to the Sun.  If Comet ISON survives its close encounter with the Sun on November 28, 2013, it could emerge glowing extremely bright! In fact there is the possibility that the comet could easily be visible near the Sun in broad daylight. If the comet’s nucleus breaks apart just after perihelion much more material (ice, dust and gas) will be exposed to the intense solar radiation and it will be spread over an even larger area meaning it’s brightness will increase even more. But there is really no way to know or predict what it will do. That in itself is part of the fun and fascination of observing comets. You just never know what the next day may bring. Comets may brighten suddenly or fizzle and fade or they can even break apart into a string of pearls.

Comet Hale-Bopp
Comet Hale-Bopp

Comet ISON has the potential to become a bright and memorable comet such as Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997 but most astronomers thought it would be brighter than it currently is given its location so close to the Sun. Only time will tell. Comet ISON might just have a few tricks up it’s sleeve. So when will be the best time to see the comet? December should be the best time to view comet ISON. The comet will emerge into the morning sky early in the month but by mid-December the comet will then be visible at both dawn and dusk!  It will be visible from the eastern horizon just before sunrise and low in the west soon after sunset. By Christmas the comet will make its closest approach to Earth, Comet ISON will be a circumpolar object. It will stay visible all night, 20° above the northwestern horizon in the early evening and 60° high in the northeast just before dawn. Get ready for a winter/holiday comet display that could be full of surprises. 

Comets

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon in May

Comet Lemmon in May
Comet Lemmon in May

In late April Comet Lemmon crossed the celestial equator making its way north. Good news for us! If you missed Comet PANSTARRS in March you can search for Comet Lemmon low in the morning sky, just above the eastern horizon. You’ll need binoculars or a small telescope to spot Comet Lemmon. Begin by sweeping slowly with binoculars about one hour before sunrise, looking for a fuzzy “star” with a short tail. The comet will be fading as the days of May tick away so observe early. Tomorrow morning (May 6th) a thin crescent Moon will pass a short distance south of Comet Lemmon making it a little easier to find. Comet Lemmon, which was discovered in March 2012, is traveling alongside the Great Square in Pegasus and will continue to do so the next few weeks (see finder chart). The chart shows the sky facing east at 5:30 a.m. on the days indicated.