Pittsburgh could get a chance to see an ancient comet this month

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – An ancient comet discovered last year is passing by Earth, and if conditions are right, Pittsburghers could get a chance to see it.

KDKA-TV visited astronomers and astronomy lovers in Pittsburgh to find out how they can get a glimpse of the rare astronomical event.

This year has been full of cosmic reasons to look up. We put on our goggles to watch a total solar eclipse. The northern lights have fascinated us more than once. We were even blinded by meteor showers.

“Now we have a comet,” said astronomer Diane Turnshek, a lecturer in physics at Carnegie Mellon University and a lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh.

“When I see the comet, there will only be one more this year before the year for celestial events is over,” said astronomer Simonetta Frittelli, an associate professor of physics at Duquesne University.

The comet, known as C-2023-A3, also known as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, will make its closest approach to Earth on October 13. Then he will put on a show every day after sunset until the end of October. The best time to observe the comet is between October 14th and 24th.

“It should be visible to the naked eye in the dark, possible to see with the naked eye here in Pittsburgh, and certainly with binoculars and a small telescope,” said Kerry Handron, special events and outreach coordinator at the Allegheny Observatory.

Handron said using binoculars or a telescope is very helpful, and you can also see the icy dust ball by taking pictures with your phone in night mode/longer exposure times.

“The comet will be blurry. He will have one tail, maybe two. That would be exciting and we will find it in the West,” Handron said.

“Just after sunset, if you look to the west, maybe a little to the south, you should see the comet, right when the sun's glare disappears, and a coma, the dirty snowball part, has a big, long trail that always “points away from the sun,” Turnshek said.

“It's close to the sun, so when the sun goes down you have to look west and wait a little bit,” Frittelli said.

The further the comet gets from the sun, the higher it is in the sky, making it easier to see. But it's getting weaker every day. Frittelli said seeing a comet was transformational.

“The comet just hangs. It hangs in the night sky. It's like he's floating there. He doesn't move. He is beautiful. “I’ve seen pictures of it taken in other parts of the world and it’s beautiful,” Frittelli added.

And if you don't see this rare astronomical event, you're out of luck.

“It happens once every 80,000 years. That may seem like a lot to you, but Neanderthals were walking the Earth at that time, so they may have seen it,” Frittelli said.

Turnshek said the ancient comet may never return.

“It could simply be ejected from the solar system,” she said.

“People in the southern hemisphere had the chance to see it, but now we have the chance to see it after sunset. So many things in the sky are exciting. But there have not been so many great comets in recent history,” Turnshek added.