https://www.seti.org/comet-c2023-a3-did-not-disappoint

Citizen Astronomers with the Unistellar & SETI Institute Network have been watching #CometA3 since mid-2023 to help astronomers track and predict its activity. Cometary Activity program lead Dr. Ariel Graykowski used their data to create models that suggested Comet A3 would shine as brightly as the North Star when it approached. But it did much more than that! At its most luminous, Comet A3 reached a magnitude of -5… 25 times brighter than the brightest star, Sirius!

IN THE SKY THIS WEEK - Comet A3 continues to shrink and fade as it recedes into the inky murk, Venus is in conjunction with orange Antares low in twilight on Friday, Halloween evening is moonless, but it offers three bright planets. Venus is very low and after dark, Saturn is the brightest little dot high toward the south-southeast. By about 10, Jupiter has climbed up to dominate the east. If you're very lucky you may catch some fireballs from the Taurids.

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-october-25-november-3/

#PPOD: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) passes over NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in this Oct. 13, 2024, image. This comet comes from the Oort Cloud, far beyond Pluto and the most distant edges of the Kuiper Belt. Though Comet C/2023 A3 will be visible through early November, the best time to observe is between now and Oct. 24. Credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon

Sky is finally looking clear enough to go C/2023 A3 spotting tonight

Last night, I managed to finally have a view of Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).

There was too much city light to see it with the naked eye, but easy enough to take a photo of. I'm in Central London after so was quite happy to be able to still see it.

In fact, I caught it my first shot of the evening, without realising it!

I then later took some more close up shots, but I kindof like the first one best.

Spot the comet

Struggled some more with photographing the comet... can now be seen from my backyard... it's huge but also eerily faint and wispy

IN THE SKY THIS UPCOMING WEEK: Comet A3 fades back into the abyss but before the Moon rises, you may still be able to catch dim naked eye glimpses of the dirty ice ball. Cameras, telescopes and binoculars will be best now. Stay up late for the Orionid meteor shower, but the bright Moon will quash all but the brightest. Standing nearly 30° high in the southeast an hour after sunset, Saturn is the brightest point of light in this region of the sky, Mars is brightening, and the Moon has a cuddle with bright Jupiter Monday morning.

https://www.astronomy.com/observing/the-sky-this-week-from-october-18-to-25-2024

Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from my kitchen window in light-polluted Belfast.

A photo of Comet A3 this evening. It was impossible to see with the naked eye, but pointing my camera in the general direction of the comet paid off quickly for me. I used a 6 second exposure to capture as much detail as possible. #cometA3 #comet

Member Sukhada Palav had some lucky timing in Yosemite National Park this past weekend! They pulled over at a pullout on Wawona Road, facing west to watch the sunset and then used their cell phone to photograph #CometA3

Expect a clear and cool night for the WAS Weekly Wednesday Star Party this evening 10/16. We are going to open early at 7 pm tonight so you can see Comet C/2023 A3. We will have the telescopes looking at the comet but it does look best with binoculars and the naked eye. Just becoming visible, it's high up at 20 degrees and in the West. The nearly Full Hunter's Supermoon - the biggest of the year - will light up the night. https://was-ct.org/events/the-was-weekly-wednesday-star-party/

Photo: WAS Member Alex Kuhn

Comet A3, western skies, just after sunset.

Started on the roof of my house, then the front yard, best few is from the corner of the street.
#CometA3. Pixel 8 Pro camera.
See ya in 80,000 years buddy.

I've got a reply-guy on Facebook telling me that my comet photo from yesterday evening is just an aircraft contrail because seeing the comet requires a specialised telescope. (And this despite there being smartphone photos of #cometa3 all over the news and social media.)

I responded in my usual mature fashion by playing the "Dr. Rosenthal PhD (astro)" card.

Comet A3 is just spectacular now and visible about 45 minutes after sunset. It has a massive tail and very easy to see naked eye. Shannon Calvert caught it setting above the observatory tonight 10/14. It is quickly getting higher every night.You can actually see the anti-tail in front of the comet. They appear when Earth passes through a comet's orbital plane.

#cometa3 looking good from #denmark this evening.

COMET TSUCHINSHAN-ATLAS HAS AN 'ANTI-TAIL': Today is a special day for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. Earth is passing through the comet's orbital plane, and this is causing the comet to sprout a rare 'anti-tail.' It's a gorgeous sight in the evening sky, so bright that you can photograph it using ordinary smartphones. From many locations around the planet the comet is a naked eye object but looks really great through cameras and binoculars. https://Spaceweather.com for more. Photo: Michael Jaeger of Martinsberg, Austria.