Catch the Cosmic Show: Once-in-a-Lifetime Comet Visible Over Connecticut

Mother Nature hasn't finished showing off yet, but the northern lights captivated countless people across the Tri-State Area this week. This month, you might be able to see a comet that hasn't been seen in 80,000 years from the Tri-State Area if you're lucky.

According to cbsnews.com, A "dirty snowball" that only happens once every 80,000 years is causing a stir in Connecticut this week. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3 and Comet A3) will be visible for the next few nights. You might ask, why is a comet sometimes called a "dirty snowball?" According to smithsonianassociates.org:

"As comets consist mostly of ice coated with dark organic material, they have been referred to as "dirty snowballs." 

It's best to observe the comet with the naked eye if you're in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and have a clear western view. According to the Amateur Astronomers Association membership chairman, Bart Fried,

Your best chance at the possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be 30 minutes after sunset if you look directly above where the sun sets.

 

Your homework is to snap a photo of the Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (also known as C/2023 A3 and Comet A3) or T-Atlas for short and then send it to me! Don't forget that you're looking towards the western sky. For you astrology fans, the following are some fun facts about comets, thanks to theplanets.org.

• The most famous comet is Halley’s Comet. It has been observed since at least 240 B.C. Its orbit makes it visible from Earth every 76 years. It was named after the British astronomer Edmond Halley.
• Comets orbit the Sun in elliptical paths – just like the planets. The path of a comet though is far more elliptical than that of any planet.
• A comet has four components: a nucleus, a coma, a dust tail and an ion tail.
• Comets have a halo when they move close to the Sun. What happens is the solar radiation vaporizes the ice and gas gas in the comet into a halo around it. The halo is known as the comets coma.
• Comets are believed to originate in one of two regions – the theorized Oort Cloud, or the Kuiper Belt found beyond the orbit of Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto.
• The Oort cloud is an outer region of the Solar System 50,000-150,00 times the distance from the Sun to Earth that is believed to contain dormant comets. Some of the comets that originate here have orbits lasting millions of years.
• There are over 3,000 currently known comets. Scientists believe that there be up to one billion comets in our solar system.