After the northern lights show, what’s next in the night sky? Comets, supermoon and meteor showers
The aurora borealis made a special appearance in the night skies over much of the suburbs late Thursday, and there’s a slim chance they’ll be back again Friday.
While largely invisible to the naked eye, camera settings on mobile phones can be adjusted to capture the aurora’s hues.
However, the northern light show produced by a significant geomagnetic storm that hit Earth Thursday isn’t the only significant celestial event that will light up the night skies over the next few weeks.
There are comets, a supermoon and meteor showers giving skywatchers a reason to keep looking into the heavens.
A newly discovered comet, known as C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, makes its closest contact to Earth on Saturday. And by close, we’re talking a mere 44 million miles away, according to officials from Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.
Look to the western horizon just after dusk to catch a glimpse, which may be fleeting.
“It will be about 10 degrees in the sky for about an hour-ish,” said Michelle Nichols, Adler’s director of public observing. “By the 23rd, it will be dimmer but it will be higher in the sky and visible for about two hours.”
Binoculars or a small telescope are recommended for optimal viewing.
Weather permitting, the icy body will look like a fireball with an elongated tail. It should remain visible for most of the month.
If you miss it, the comet won’t return for another 80,000 years. The last time it was this close to Earth, woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers were still walking among neanderthals, scientists note.
But C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS isn’t the only comet performing a near-Earth fly by this month. Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) is also expected to be visible in the sky later this month as it slingshots around the sun. It will be closest to us Oct. 24.
“Tentatively,” Nichols said. “It might not make it past the sun.”
In the midst of these dueling comets is a supermoon Oct. 17, known as a hunter’s moon. The moon will appear larger in the sky than normal because it will be closer to the Earth than any full moon this year. The hunter’s moon follows the autumnal harvest moon.
Astronomers are also predicting a lively meteor shower season through the end of the year.
The Orionids peak Oct. 20-21, the Taurids are best seen Nov. 4-5 and Nov. 11-12. Those are followed by Leonids peaking Nov. 17-18, the Geminids Dec. 13-14 and the Ursids Dec. 21-22.
“It’s just a lot of fun when this sort of stuff happens,” Nichols said. “We don’t really care what gets people looking up in the sky, we’re just happy they’re looking up to the sky.”