Do you want to see the comet tonight? If you’ve seen the hype online about Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (also called C/2023 A3 and Comet A3), you’ll want to know exactly when to look, where it is, and how to find it.

After all, the rare sight of a comet with the naked eye – a comet that orbits the sun only once every 80,000 years – rivals Thursday’s global display of the Northern Lights.

Fortunately, it is now easily visible in the west sky after sunset, if you have clear weather. As an added bonus, tonight, Thursday, October 17, it will be possible to see not only the comet, but – right behind you – a rising ‘supermoon’.

ForbesYour ultimate guide to seeing the comet every evening this week – before it fadesBy means of

The comet is now just past its absolute brightest point, but in some ways that’s a good thing because it’s now much higher in the sky. That means you can see anywhere – no special trips to mountainsides and beaches are required – and it’s now a darker sky than it was a few days ago. If you find it, here’s how to photograph it.

It’s now almost 50 million miles away, but crucially it’s higher in the sky, so easier to see above mountains and buildings.

Here you can read exactly when and where to look to see the comet with your naked eyes on Thursday, October 17.

Please note: Times and viewing instructions are for mid-latitude observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Check the exact time of sunset where you are and the comet set times are on Stellarium web for accurate times for your exact location.

How to locate Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: Thursday, October 17

Position: west, 37 degrees from the sun in Serpens

Time: 45 minutes afterwards sunset where you are

Magnitude: +1.3

Comet’s distance from the Sun: 60.9 million miles (98 million kilometers)

Comet’s distance from Earth: 49.9 million miles (80.3 million kilometers)

Tonight the comet will be visible over the western horizon about 45 minutes after sunset, setting about two hours and ten minutes later. That means it will be in the sky about fifteen minutes longer than Wednesday.

However, there is a good reason to get out 10 minutes before sunset in the west – about an hour before the sky darkens enough for the comet to appear – because the full ‘Hunter’s Moon’, a large, bright supermoon – will rise in the west. east.

ForbesJust when you can see the ‘Super Hunter’s Moon’ at its best this weekBy means of

How to use a ‘cosmic coat hanger’ to find the comet

Its brightness will bleach out the sky, but not enough to make the comet difficult to see. Turn back 180 degrees from the moon to look west at the bright planet Venus and the brightly twinkling, reddish star Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Boötes; the comet will be high above a point about halfway between them.

Think about it this way; if Arcturus and Venus are the ends of a coat hanger, the comet is the hook. With this knowledge you should be able to find the comet with your naked eyes, but since you will be outside at dusk and there will be a lot of moonlight, it is best to bring binoculars to speed up the process.

As a bonus, if you locate comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, you’ll get a great view with binoculars.

How do you pronounce ‘Tsuchinshan’?

Tsuchinshan is the English name for the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing, China, which discovered the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in January 2023. That observatory is also called Zijinshan. The pronunciation is similar to “tsu-jing-shon.”

“The tsu part actually sounds pretty close to the ts sounds in English as in it’s a bit,” said astronomer Dr. Qicheng Zhang of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, who monitored the comet, said in an email. “The chin part – now usually transcribed as jin – sounds quite jin in jingle bells”, and the shan sounds something like Sunbut with the An part may sound a bit more like the on sound in von with a German accent.”

Now that you can say it and see it, you’re done.

Check my feed every day this week and next for a daily “comet tracker” with sky maps and comet viewing tips.

I wish you clear skies and big eyes.