Rare comet spotted in North Texas sky
FORT WORTH, Texas - A once-in-80,000-year comet was spotted in the North Texas sky this weekend.
Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas passed within 44 million miles of Earth on Saturday and it was visible in the United States.
If you missed the comet, you should be able to see it throughout the month.
You can look to the western sky after sunset every evening until about Oct. 26, as long as the skies are clear.
"Comet C/2023 A3 is no threat to Earth," Peter Veres, a research scientist at the Minor Planet Center, previously told FOX Weather. "We know the comet’s orbit well. The orbit is becoming better and better with more and more astrometric observations incoming to our center – the MPC."
The celestial object was discovered in 2023 by observers at China’s Tsuchinshan Observatory were conducting routine monitoring.
Comets are the leftovers of the solar system’s formation, which took place approximately 4.5 billion years ago, and are composed of a mixture of ice, dust, rock and gases.
"Some comets do not survive close encounters with the Sun. If they get too close, radiation and gravitational forces may disintegrate them completely. Tsuchinshan-ATLAS did not suffer this fate, but another comet astronomers were watching, C/2024 S1 ATLAS, may have," NASA stated.
Based on orbital calculations, astronomers believe once the comet leaves Earth’s sight, it could be another 80,000 years before the comet is visible again if it survives its voyage around the solar system.