The Cayman Islands Astronomical Society is hoping for clear skies for a public viewing at Seven Mile public beach on Tuesday for a rare comet sighting as it makes an appearance in the early evening.
The comet, called Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, should be visible in the west just above where the sun sets each night this week.
“The Cayman Islands have some of the best viewing conditions around the world for this comet because of our situation slightly in the northern hemisphere but in the tropics,” said Tiyen Miller of the astronomical society. “Our sun is setting earlier and earlier because we’re in the northern hemisphere, and because we’re in the tropics, the sky gets dark very quickly. We are in the sweet spot.”
The comet first became visible in the northern hemisphere on Friday, 11 Oct., and Miller captured a photo of it the following evening.
He said that each night, the comet will be appearing a bit higher, and will be easier to see as the skies are darker, but he advised, “However, it will also be dimming, so just try each evening.”
Miller says, if there is little cloud coverage, the comet should be visible each evening from anywhere with a view over the water to the west.
He says he suspects that some of the best viewing will be mid-week, “but comet brightness is notoriously difficult to estimate”.
The public viewing will be held at public beach from 6:30pm Tuesday.
As well as the comet, he says, “Saturn, the moon, Venus, and the galactic core will also be great targets for our telescopes”.
Astronomers in China and South Africa discovered the comet early last year.
Having swung around the sun on 27 Sept., it is now passing its closest by Earth, coming within 44 million miles. It won’t pass by again for another 80,000 years.
The comet gets its name from its discovery at China’s Purple Mountain Observatory (tsuchinshan means ‘purple mountain’ in Mandarin Chinese) and South Africa’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Both teams picked up the comet independently in January 2023.
The public viewing at Seven Mile Beach will be cancelled if there is more than 50% cloud coverage. Check the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society’s Facebook page for updates.
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