Here's how to spot the comet on Friday

In the coming days, the orbit of comet Chuqinshan-Atlas will reach its closest point to Earth. Due to the weather, Friday (tomorrow) should be your best chance of seeing the celestial body with the naked eye.

Stefan Scherrer from MeteoSwiss told Keystone-SDA. The Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology predicts that clouds will still dominate the first half of the day, but it will clear up by the evening. So there should be a good chance of seeing the comet from most of Switzerland. “The cloud shouldn't be a big issue,” Scherer said.

«Then the comet will reach Switzerland Dusk after sunset, on the western horizon MeteoNews wrote in a blog post:

70 million kilometers away

return The Chuqin Mountain Atlas may be visible from today's perspective on Tuesday. The weather should improve by then. However, the outlook for Saturday and Monday is bleak. According to meteorologists, it will be cloudy and rainy on both sides of the Alps. On Sunday, people in French-speaking Switzerland, Valais or Ticino were probably the most optimistic. This is because it is dissipating from the west. Northern and eastern Switzerland may remain relatively cloudy.

Comet Chukinshan Atlas is also known as C/2023 A3. its path has been reached Its closest approach to Earth in the next few days. So it's about 70 million kilometers away – almost half the distance from the Earth to the Sun. According to astronomers, it theoretically comes from The best viewing time is from October 12th to 14th. However, the aforementioned weather in Switzerland put a damper on the recreational astronomer's plans.

The Chuqin Mountain Atlas was discovered in early 2023. The name comes from the telescope systems in China and South Africa that first discovered it. It is a non-periodic comet and will only approach Earth again after a long period of time, if at all. The comet came from the Oort cloud, a collection of spherical objects in the outermost reaches of the solar system. It is one of the brightest comets in recent decades.

Tips for the “best” comet viewing.

In fact, comets are best viewed with binoculars. “Binoculars can collect more light and still provide enough field of view to put the tail in the spotlight,” MeteoNews said in an article.

In general, if you're serious about observing comets, look for places with little ambient light. It is also recommended to choose a high location. People who live in cities or other places with more light sources have a poorer outlook.

You can also use a tripod to take beautiful photos. You can learn about other things to watch out for here (these tips also apply to comets in the night sky):

Weather forecast until Tuesday

(Ogilvy/South Dakota)