A rare comet you can see in Colorado skies won't return for 80,000 years

It's been an incredibly busy year when it comes to space weather. Two massive solar flares led to this Northern lights dance in almost all of the United States. A cometdiscovered last year, orbits the Earth until the end of October and will not return for 80,000 years.

This week will be another busy one. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is likely to remain visible to the naked eye until October 21, and the largest supermoon of the year will rise on Thursday.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) was discovered last year at China's Tsuchinshan Observatory. The comet came from the Oort Cloud, more than 150 million kilometers away, which contains icy debris. The Oort Cloud surrounds our solar system.

“Although the comet is very old, it was only discovered in 2023, when it approached the inner solar system in its highly elliptical orbit for the first time in recorded human history,” NASA said. “The comet comes from the Oort cloud, which scientists believe is a giant spherical shell surrounding our solar system. It resembles a large, thick-walled bubble of icy pieces of space debris the size of mountains and sometimes even larger. The Oort Cloud lies far beyond Pluto and the farthest edges of the Kuiper Belt and may contain billions or even trillions of objects.”

The comet travels at about 150,000 miles per hour and has an orbital period of 80,000 years, making this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

LOOK AT THE COMET

The comet will be visible until October 24th. However, its brightness halves every day and it moves higher and higher above the horizon.

Optimal visibility conditions occur around 45 minutes after sunset. Just look west. Since it is becoming less and less bright, a telescope is recommended.