Comet visible in sky across Carolinas, Georgia

Heads up for stargazers–a comet will be visible in the night sky for the next few nights with your own eyes.Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was first discovered in early 2023 and named after the two astronomy teams in China and South Africa that found it. The comet officially made its closest approach to Earth this past weekend on Oct. 12, 2024, coming within 44 million miles of the planet.“If you go outside about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset and you look towards the west, you’re going to want to look low to the horizon,” Maggie Connelly with the Roper Mountain Science Center said.“You should be able–hopefully–you’ll be able to see it with just your eyes,” Connelly said. “The thing is, you’re going to have to really be patient. You’re not going to just be able to just walk outside and see it. You need to give your eyes a little bit of time to adjust to the night sky. You shouldn’t necessarily need binoculars or a telescope, but if you have binoculars or a telescope that’ll certainly help.”There is still plenty of time to see the comet for roughly the next week, or so. But for the best view, Connelly says sooner is better.“Throughout the month it’s going to be getting a little bit higher in the sky but it’s also going to be getting a little bit fainter. So we’re not entirely sure how long it’s going to be visible, at least for the next couple of nights. But probably by the week of Halloween or so it’ll be too faint for us to see with just our eyes. It’ll still be in the sky–You’ll still be able to see it with a telescope–but you won’t be able to just look up and see it.”