From Saturday October 12, it will be the best time to observe the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLASnicknamed “the comet of the century”, since it will be closest to the Earth. The phenomenon coincides with a period of intense solar activity which allowed the observation of the Northern Lights from several places on the Iberian Peninsula on Thursday evening and which could be repeated, although with less intensity, over the coming days.
Although seeing the comet and the auroras at the same time is not possible in our latitudes, since they occur with a difference in times since the first will be seen in the west and the second in the north, in distant places it There is a slight possibility of seeing both shows in the sky on the same night.
A long-tailed comet
The comet can be observed with the naked eye from high, unobstructed locations on the horizon, just after sunset, looking west. To see it better, it is recommended to move away from the light pollution of cities and go to elevated places where the horizon is clear.
“It is a very good comet to observe, because it has a tail of 21 degrees, which is equivalent to 42 successive full moons,” amateur astronomer Paco Bellido explains to elDiario.es. “We will be able to observe it in the coming days and the duration of the phenomenon depends on how its brightness decreases,” explains scientist and popularizer Nahúm M. Chazarra. “In the following days it will slowly lose its brightness, but it is not clear when it will stop being visible, because it depends on how its magnitude decreases.”
“This Friday, it will be difficult to observe it because it will be quite low, but on Saturday it will be more or less at the same height as Venus and as the days go by we will see it better, in the sense that it will be further away from the sun and will last longer in the sky,” emphasizes Bellido.
A party in paradise
As for the auroras, seeing them simultaneously with the comet will be complicated, warns specialist Fernando Ortuño. “But it’s a perfect plan for tonight,” he said. “The comet can be seen at dusk with a tail of 20 degrees and the northern lights have a good forecast a little lower, although it cannot be excluded that they can be seen especially around midnight in universal time (UTC) .”
Why are so many auroras observed in mid-latitudes recently? “We are at solar maximum and that means the Sun is in a particularly active phase of its 11-year cycle,” Bellido explains. “Aurora are visible at low altitudes in our latitudes, although in reality we observe the phenomenon occurring in higher latitudes, so we should always look north to observe them,” adds Ortuño.
I don’t know if this has ever happened before, it’s certainly not common to have two such impressive celestial phenomena at the same time.
Paco Bellido
— amateur astronomer
Having auroras and a comet at the same time in the night sky is a very rare phenomenon, experts admit. “I don’t know if this has ever happened before, it’s certainly not common to have two such impressive celestial phenomena at the same time,” admits Paco Bellido. The probability that we will see auroras again here in Spain is not very high, but it is not impossible, given the solar activity, he assures. “What is unfortunate is that the forecasts show skies covered with clouds in many places,” he emphasizes.
On the other hand, seeing the auroras with the naked eye is considerably more complicated than seeing the comet, and would generally be more difficult for those with good cameras to capture the night sky. “The fact that we can now observe auroras is due to a bias due to the increase in the exposure capacity of our devices, to a better knowledge of the dynamics of solar physics and its interaction with the earth’s magnetic field “, he explains. .Ortuño. “But that doesn’t mean that going out into the sky on those nights can’t be a great experience.”
