Observed this comet last night, 5/26, in Virgo. It was about 1degree from 10 Virginis at ~10th magnitude. The bright star near the comet is +6.91 HD106314.
This comet is notable because of current estimates it could become bright enough to be visible to the naked eye during its perihelion passage between September and October 2024.
APM 152ED refractor on Atlas mount. 8mm TeleVue Delos and iPhone 13 ProMax with NightCap.10second exposure. Phone edits,cropped.
Thanks for giving me a first glimpse. I do hope it makes an even brighter showing as the year progresses.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS should be a great object to view this fall. Could be a great viewing target at OSTP!
Hello, I will be visiting OKC during the last week of Sept and the first week of Oct. I am wondering if people are going to try and watch the comet C/2023 A3. I am going to try but will appreciate some help from the local enthusiasts.
That is the week of the Okie-Tex Star Party. We will have a lot of people from all over the world that will be viewing this Comet for sure.
It seems that I missed the early registration date. The late registration fee is quite steep. I will probably have additional logistics issues getting to the site as well.
Saw comet T-A this morning. Very difficult observation as there were long wispy clouds low in the east. There were breaks higher upso I had to wait until 6:45am before I found it. By that time the sky was quite bright so the comet was diminished, but I did see it. It was easily visible in my 9x50 finder but not naked eye.
Astro-Tech 102ED refractor. 17.3mm Delos and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Nice find. This pesky comet is so close to the sun right now. Hopefully it survives and we can get it in the evening sky.
Several of us at OTSP are going to try for it in a few days.
I am looking forward to viewing the comet in the evening sky later this month. Does anyone have suggestions for dark viewing locations with an unobstructed view of the western horizon, west of OKC but not as far west as Cheddar Ranch Observatory? I figure most county roads are relatively safe, but I don’t want to trespass. You hear about trespassers getting shot.
The best viewing spot I’ve found in OKC is Bluff Creek Park, at N Meridian and Hefner Rd, just north of the Lake Hefner dam. If it’s too low there, Winsurfer Point, on the NE corner of Lake Hefner is probably your best bet.
I don’t know of anyplace west of the city, other than CRO, that might work, though I’m sure there are places. Maybe a park in Yukon or El Reno? Okarche?
Just came across this video of the comet on my Astrobin feed, it was so beautiful I had to share: https://www.astrobin.com/s0wy3s
Wow! I agree with you
From what I read in recent Sky and Telescope in this week’s news that when the comet swings around tge sun and heads out we shoud see it better in the early evening sky starting around Oct 11th at 8pm EDT with mag -2 and fading to mag 0 on Oct 14th.
Has anyone tried looking at the comet now that it is in the evening sky?
I tried tonight, it was too close to the sun and horizon for me to see it.
I saw it naked eye tonight. It was faint, but I could see it from Yukon looking west. I got a few timelapses of it.
