Rare Comet to Be Visible in the Sky Soon

In the coming month, it will be possible to see a comet in the sky that last approached Earth about 80,000 years ago, during the time of Neanderthals. This is reported by CNN.

The celestial body, named C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, was recently discovered in 2023. This September, the comet could be seen by residents of the southern hemisphere of our planet. It will be visible from mid-October to early November.

Next Saturday, the comet will come as close to Earth as possible, at a distance of about 71 million kilometers. The appearance of the comet near our planet is the first time in 80,000 years, meaning there have been no documented sightings of C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS until now.

The comet will be visible in the western part of the night sky just after sunset. With high visibility, it can be seen with the naked eye, although in some cases, a telescope may be required.

“It won't fly through the sky like an asteroid. It will just hang there and slowly change position day and night,” said Bill Cooke, head of NASA's meteoroid environment office.