The comet of the century will reach its maximum visibility this Sunday in Granada.

Clear skies offer ordinary mortals a world of color. Those with basic astronomy training are able to identify certain elements in the sky. Those who expand this field of science spread it to easily connect each of its components.

For this reason, it was they who were able to identify a small moving dot in the sky of Granada. “The Comet of the Century,” as it is called. A bright spot with a tail just above the Alhambra. QutingshanATLAS, which opened in 2023 and had high expectations due to its scale, received some attention in early October. But it didn’t disappear. In fact, it reaches maximum visibility this weekend. Jesús Carmona (@AstroIncognito in “X” and El Astrónomo Incógnito AI Team on his YouTube channel), a member of the Astronomical Society of Granada, has helped bring such experiences closer to ordinary mortals.

Since late September it has moved west to become more visible. The scientific community warned that the best time to observe it when it was discovered in 2023 and confirmed over several months was October 12 this year. It should be visible to the naked eye with its shiny and long tail, the length of which is equivalent to the diameter of 42 moons.

This Saturday it will be 70 million kilometers from Earth, which is the closest. This is equivalent to almost half the distance between the Earth and the Sun. When is the best time to see it? “In the first minutes of sunset,” Carmona clarifies, although this can be noticeable at dawn. Of course, then “it will compete with the city lights and the first rays of the sun,” so you’ll have to be a little more careful.

The astronomy expert points out that it will be more noticeable if “the luminosity of these days is maintained,” which means that there will be virtually no clouds in the sky. He recommends that those who want to see this phenomenon well should try to get away from the city and look for places with little light pollution. However, it can also be seen from the center of Granada. The help of some element can increase the experience: “With binoculars, of course,” he clarifies. What will we see?: “A bright spot and a very straight tail,” says the expert.

Until October 20

Comet C/2023 A3 (Zuchinshan – ATLAS) was discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China in January 2023, and independently discovered by South Africa using ATLAS a month later. After calculating its orbit, it was determined that this is a new comet from the Oort Cloud.

Later studies predicted that its closest approach to Earth would be on October 12, 2024, at a distance of 0.47 AU. from our planet. From the very beginning, the observing community showed great interest in this object due to its potential to become a bright comet visible to the naked eye. Based on absolute magnitude, the comet’s nucleus is expected to measure about 5 km in diameter.

Already in the second half of October, the comet quickly rose across the sky until it could not be observed in complete darkness. Especially from October 20, when there will no longer be interference from moonlight and its brightness will still remain at 3.5 magnitude, at the limit of observation with the naked eye.