Comet Tsuchininshan-ATLAS
Sandy finally spotted the comet just before we got home
I've seen three comets in my lifetime. The first one was Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. It was the most spectacular by far. It was visible with the naked eye for several months. It was bright enough that it could easily be seen in Boise, even with the sky glow from all of the lights in the city. I remember it well.
The next comet I saw was Comet Neowise in 2020. It was only visible for a few nights and was quite dim. To get a better chance to see it, I hiked to the summit of Schafer Butte one night with Abby to try to get a look at it. Since it was in the northern sky, the mountains at Bogus Basin blocked the skyglow from Boise and I was able to see it clearly. After that I knew exactly where in the sky to look for it and when, so the next night Sandyy and I went for a walk in the park near our house after dark. Since I knew where to look, we were able to see it, even though it was pretty dim. So Sandy got a chance to see it too.
The comet was visible just after sunset
Early this year I started to see science articles about Comet Atlas. Although very far away when first detected, astronomers speculated that it might be one of the most spectacular comets in many years. It's not possible to predict how bright a comet will be or how long its tail will be. It depends on how much gas and dust is ejected as it approaches the sun and warms up. But since Comet Atlas was going to pass very close to the sun, it had a good chance of being more impressive than most comets.
After all the hype, when Atlas finally neared periphelion it turned out to be a dud. It never developed much of a tail. The best chance to see it was during a two or three day window in October. It was close to the sun so the tail would be as big as it was going to get. But because it was close to the sun, it was close to the sun in the sky too. At sunset it was very close to the horizon. By the time it got really dark, the comet had already set.
Low in the sky and barely visible the second night
Sandy and I went out and walked around the park near our house just at twilight. We scanned the western sky carefully but didn't see any sign of the comet. Finally we gave up and headed home. Then, just a half block from our house, Sandy spotted the comet over some trees in a vacant lot. Good eye! It was dim but we could clearly see it and we got a few pictures.
The next night I went back to the same spot about the same time and it was even lower in the sky, almost behind the trees already. I could only see it by averting my eyes rather than looking directly at it. My phone camera was still sensitive enough to pick it up though, so I got a couple of final photos. And that was the last that I saw it. The next night it was gone. It wasn't much but hey, any time that you see a comet, it's something special.
