Long-awaited comet becomes visible in Slovakia

The long-awaited bright comet C/2023 A3 is becoming visible in the sky in Slovakia these days. It will be very low over the horizon in the morning before sunrise in early October and will move into the evening sky on October 10. This will begin the period of its best observability, although it will be partially disturbed by moonlight.

"The comet will initially be found just low over the west-southwestern horizon after sunset, but as conditions gradually improve, it will be found in darker skies. The comet's tail may reach up to 20 degrees in length and it will be visible without binoculars until about October 20, with binoculars until mid-December," said Pavol Rapavý from Slovak Association of Astronomers.

As he added, the comet was at perihelion, the closest point in its orbit to the Sun, on September 27 this year, just under 59 million kilometres from the Sun, closer than the planet Mercury. "Since the comet survived the flyby of the Sun and did not break up, it will be a nice addition to the sky. It will come within just 71 million kilometres of Earth on October 12 and will begin its period of best visibility," added Rapavý.

Source: TASR