COMET TSUCHINSHAN - ATLAS, brighter than predicted?

[paulastro]

Had this email this afternoon from spaceweather.com - could be negative magnitude by early October.

 

Edited September 20 by paulastro

[paulastro]

spaceweather.com   21/9

[bish]

A really bright comet. Need to keep our fingers  crossed.

[Waddensky]

Yes, a comet to look forward to. Unfortunately quite low above the horizon for mid-northern latitudes when it's at its brightest. 

[Nik271]

It should look nice and bright from mid October in the early evening sky. The peak brightness will have passed but maybe it will still be spectacular🤞

[JeremyS]

The article cited by Nick James has a balanced view of the prospects: 

https://britastro.org/section_news_item/comet-c-2023-a3-tsuchinshan-atlas-looking-good-for-october

[Paul M]

Not the best geometry for easy observation during its period of best prospects but worth the effort of looking.

The problem with comets isn't the likely diassapointment, it's the over optimism! 

[Geoff Lister]

I ran Stellarium, with this comet centred, and stepped through date & time. I put a marker in my diary for October 13th, at 19:10, with about a 10 degree altitude separation from the horizon/setting Sun, at an azimuth of 255 degrees. Stellarium has it at magnitude +1, but this is likely to be an estimate, using old data.

The background sky may be too bright for my Dwarf or Seestar to plate solve, but my 15x70 binoculars on my monopod should be fine. Clouds permitting!

Geoff

 

[Shimrod]

2 hours ago, Geoff Lister said:

I ran Stellarium, with this comet centred, and stepped through date & time. I put a marker in my diary for October 13th, at 19:10, with about a 10 degree altitude separation from the horizon/setting Sun, at an azimuth of 255 degrees. Stellarium has it at magnitude +1, but this is likely to be an estimate, using old data.

The background sky may be too bright for my Dwarf or Seestar to plate solve, but my 15x70 binoculars on my monopod should be fine. Clouds permitting!

Geoff

 

It's going to be so low on the horizon I'm going to have to go to the coast or get to the top of a hill. Starry Night shows an estimated magnitude of +4.47 using the latest data files, but no idea how recent the data is for the comet itself. 

[Tony Acorn]

Some while back I gambled that this would be visible in our evening skies so I planned a week's trip to the Isle of Wight for late October and this may well give me a chance looking southwest to west over the sea. My Nikon Z6ii and one of: 14mm, 14-28mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses will sit on one tripod whilst my the 80mm ED f/6.25 will be on another.

Of course I am already praying to the weather gods. So far, efforts to find sacrificial lambs aren't proving very successful. 

Tony

[maw lod qan]

If it's only 10° I would definitely have to go to the beach.

It would be worth it to get an image of a bright comet.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Will be watching out for this one. It would be comet number 40 for me. Fingers crossed.

[paulastro]

SEPT 24TH - COMET TSUCHINSHAN IS BRIGHTENING AND LIVING UP TO THE HYPE..SO FAR, SO GOOD

https://spaceweather.com/

Edited Tuesday at 17:24 by paulastro
Link to spaceweathet.com added

[PeterW]

Popped a note in the calendar to observe every evening from the second week of October… maybe a day or so earlier so I can work out where on the horizon from where I normally observe it might be. 
 

Peter 

[mcrowle]

I may try a morning in the next few days, if the weather looks promising. Saturday morning looks best at the moment.

With the comet only a few degrees above the horizon in bright twilight, I'll need to head to a beach 30-minutes walk away to have any hope.

Regards, Mike.

Edited Tuesday at 21:37 by mcrowle

[JeremyS]

Nice image here: https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20240925_113401_8bbf723b76b8bec8

[Geoff Lister]

My last Seestar image of this comet was on the 24th of June. It will be nice to see my old friend back again - hopefully rejuvenated.

Geoff

[Scosmico]

The comet is so low that I am praying for good weather in Holland and north sea.

[paulastro]

7 hours ago, Geoff Lister said:

My last Seestar image of this comet was on the 24th of June. It will be nice to see my old friend back again - hopefully rejuvenated.

Geoff

I know how you feel Geoff, I checked back and found this one I took on May 31st.  I thought I took another sometime, but didn't find it when I did the quick check.