<blockquote>
<p>P.S.: I do not have a pair of binoculars.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately, you really do need binoculars. Actually, you would massively benefit from the ability to do long-exposure photography.</p>
<p>In an area with light pollution, at the switchover from nautical twilight to astronomical twilight, on 15.10.2024, the comet C/2023 A3 didn't have a pretty tail when viewed with 7x35 binoculars. I assume 10x50 binoculars would have been better, but probably not massively so. The 7x35 binoculars did show it clearly distinct from a star, and did show the direction of the tail, but not the full tail.</p>
<p>However, with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens (120mm f/2.8 ISO 1600 4-second exposure) and a full frame camera, it was quite pretty after the photo was taken:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fzcNA3J6.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/fzcNA3J6.jpg" alt="120mm f/2.8 ISO 1600 full frame 4-second exposure" /></a></p>
<p>The tail length is about 100 times longer than what was visible using the 7x35 binoculars.</p>
<p>In contrast, Hale-Bopp had quite a pretty tail.</p>
<p>I can't comment on how C/2023 A3 was when it was markedly brighter, because here in Finland, it was so close to horizon on 12.10.2024 that I couldn't see it because the trees obstructed the view when it was dark enough.</p>
<p>Of course, in a completely dark area, it could be slightly prettier, and with better binoculars, more light would be available and maybe show more of the tail, but it wasn't a pretty sight with 7x35 binoculars.</p>
<p><b>Edit:</b> I made a second observation on 19.10.2024. The comet was near Lambda Ophiuchi (magnitude 3.8 star) and another star with approximately 5 magnitude, the name of which I do not know. The comet's core was dimmer than both of these stars. With 7x35 binoculars, I could just about see the direction of the tail but it wasn't a pretty sight. With unaided eye, I couldn't even find the comet.</p>
<p>The failure to find the comet with unaided eye and the poor visibility in binoculars wasn't due to not-dark-enough skies (I waited until the end of astronomical twilight to reach night), or dark adaptation of the eye (I gave 30 minutes to adapt to the darkness). It may have been due to light pollution not causing good enough dark adaptation. But I think the main reason was that the comet's core was dimmer than magnitude 5. Of course if you integrate the total light from the comet, it probably was brighter, but the luminosity per area was less than that of magnitude 5 stars. A lot dimmer today than four days ago. The tail was shorter in the picture, even though I used 200mm focal length.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/rV1aJskZ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/rV1aJskZ.jpg" alt="200mm f/2.8 ISO 1600 full frame 4-second exposure" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-18T16:58:04.867Z
Surely it is an exaggeration that the photographic tail wasv100 times longer than in binoculars. While standing near parking lot lights, I could see a 3 degree tail with unaided eyes around 0h UT Oct 18. The tail in your photo shows an 11 degree long tail.
JohnHoltz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-18T17:36:17.277Z
No, it wasn't an exaggeration. But what could affect it, is the fact that the observation time was at the very end of the nautical twilight. Also what could affect is that my eyes may not have been fully adapted to the dark. Maybe it's the eye adaptation, CMOS sensors don't need to be adapted to the dark.
juhist
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-19T10:52:40.887Z
Well, I was considering taking a short domestic flight that would last 2 hours (about the duration for which the comet is visible). I was hoping that at cruise height of normal domestic aircrafts would be free of light pollution enough. I could have afforded a flight for a once in 3-4 years phenomena. Unfortunately, I got sick and cannot travel, so that plan is out of the window anyway. I must say the photograph is very pretty. I can barely see a point of light with my naked eye where A3 is supposed to be (and I wonder whether I am hallucinating) from here in New Delhi. I can't even see a tail
Mridul Gupta
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-19T11:41:55.653Z
@MridulGupta  In my (very limited) experience, New Delhi is very hazy and I'd expect the seeing to be poor most nights.
Dave Gremlin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-18T16:11:17.203Z
2024-10-19T17:58:48.313Z
2024-10-19T17:58:48.313Z
juhist
<p>Bright comets in general are somewhat rare -- figure two or so a decade.  A bright comet isn't a once-in-a-lifetime event, but it's worth traveling for.</p>
<p>The specific phenomenon that made Tsuchinshan–ATLAS so bright (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_scatter" rel="noreferrer">forward scattering</a> of sunlight) is considerably less common.  It requires the comet to pass between the Earth and the Sun, and is a very short-lived effect.  Tsuchinshan–ATLAS has already faded to about third magnitude, and will appear as simply a blur in the sky without binoculars.  It's not like Hale-Bopp, which was readily visible for months.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-17T23:36:49.163Z
Ya, Hale-Bopp was nice, you just had to look up, even in the middle of a city.
Dan Mašek
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-17T21:03:41.403Z
2024-10-17T21:03:41.403Z
Mark
<p>I am always excited by things that might have been visible in the night sky to the naked eye if the the humans had not invented pollution and light. I am also interested in watching other astronomoical phenomena that are visible to the naked eye (like the solar eclipse, the aurora, etc.)</p>
<p>But I never did anything to go and watch these amazing phenomena as they don't always occur in my current location (New Delhi, India).</p>
<p>I am planning to change that now, so I want advice from people who do that, especially in India. <strong>I want to know if it is worth it to pay for an INR ~6k flight (round-trip) to get a chance at a low light pollution view of the Tsuchinshan comet (C/2023 A3)?</strong></p>
<p><em>What I am unaware of is how rare is this event.</em> For example, there is a list of upcoming comets <a href="https://www.aerith.net/comet/future-n.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, but all the comets are different in terms of some parameters <em>Mag</em> and <em>h</em> on this website, so unaware if this event is once in a year thing, or is likely to repeat in the future with another bright and visible comet (for which I can plan better).</p>
<p><em>What I am also unaware of is whether this comet is visible to the naked eye right now</em> (the <a href="https://theskylive.com/planetarium?objects=sun-moon-c2023a3-mercury-venus-mars-jupiter-saturn-uranus-neptune-pluto&amp;localdata=34.16504%7C77.58402%7CLeh%20(IN)%7CAsia%2FKolkata%7C0&amp;obj=c2023a3&amp;h=11&amp;m=37&amp;date=2024-10-17#ra%7C15.765357114474433%7Cdec%7C1.4655082518575844%7Cfov%7C50" rel="nofollow noreferrer">magnitude</a> of C/2023 A3 with the location Leh, India (because I'm expecting similar light pollution levels from a flight's cruise altitude) and time around 17:00 is 6.5 which is not very visible unless the night is very dark).</p>
<p>If someone could answer these queries and help me make a better decision, it'll be very helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>P.S.: I do not have a pair of binoculars.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-17T08:40:25.517Z
Hi Mridul, your questions in the main a text are good and concise, but you might consider editing the headline, since the answer to that would be purely opinion-based.
pela
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-17T17:43:49.617Z
Bright comets are pretty rare, maybe every 5 years or so.  But not many people travel to see them, as they aren't particularly spectacular.  By contrast, total solar eclipses are fairly common, sometimes two per year, but people travel around the world to see them because they are quite specatular.
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-17T20:48:57.693Z
I'd say that entirely depends on what that amount of money means to you.
Dan Mašek
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-17T23:00:00.813Z
I would not spend money at this point.  As others say, something like this is every couple years on average, I think the last good one was 2020.  HOWEVER: It's already fading, and the nearly full moon is already swamping it out.  By this weekend when you'll get maybe 2–3 hrs after sunset, it is projected to no longer be naked-eye visible.  Wait 'til the next one and plan ahead based on projections for that next one.
Stuart Robbins
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-19T18:21:23.513Z
I don’t know how “dark” your “dark” location would be, so it’s difficult to say, but I definitely would NOT travel to go see this comet if I couldn’t see it at my place. It is barely visible to the naked eye. I have seen maybe 10–15 other comets in my life, and I can easily think of 5 that were more spectacular. I’m 51, so that’s 1 per decade. I presume you’re younger, so you’ll have another chance than this not-so-spectacular comet.
Pierre Paquette
<comets><night-sky>
How rare is Tsuchinshan (C/2023 A3) like events? So that I can decide how much to spend to see it
Mridul Gupta
# How rare is Tsuchinshan (C/2023 A3) like events? So that I can decide how much to spend to see it

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-10-17)

I am always excited by things that might have been visible in the night sky to the naked eye if the the humans had not invented pollution and light. I am also interested in watching other astronomoical phenomena that are visible to the naked eye (like the solar eclipse, the aurora, etc.)

But I never did anything to go and watch these amazing phenomena as they don't always occur in my current location (New Delhi, India).

I am planning to change that now, so I want advice from people who do that, especially in India. **I want to know if it is worth it to pay for an INR ~6k flight (round-trip) to get a chance at a low light pollution view of the Tsuchinshan comet (C/2023 A3)?**

*What I am unaware of is how rare is this event.* For example, there is a list of upcoming comets [here](https://www.aerith.net/comet/future-n.html), but all the comets are different in terms of some parameters *Mag* and *h* on this website, so unaware if this event is once in a year thing, or is likely to repeat in the future with another bright and visible comet (for which I can plan better).

*What I am also unaware of is whether this comet is visible to the naked eye right now* (the [magnitude](https://theskylive.com/planetarium?objects=sun-moon-c2023a3-mercury-venus-mars-jupiter-saturn-uranus-neptune-pluto&localdata=34.16504%7C77.58402%7CLeh%20(IN)%7CAsia%2FKolkata%7C0&obj=c2023a3&h=11&m=37&date=2024-10-17#ra%7C15.765357114474433%7Cdec%7C1.4655082518575844%7Cfov%7C50) of C/2023 A3 with the location Leh, India (because I'm expecting similar light pollution levels from a flight's cruise altitude) and time around 17:00 is 6.5 which is not very visible unless the night is very dark).

If someone could answer these queries and help me make a better decision, it'll be very helpful.

Thanks.

P.S.: I do not have a pair of binoculars.

**Tags:** comets, night-sky

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi username_0, your questions in the main a text are good and concise, but you might consider editing the headline, since the answer to that would be purely opinion-based.  
> **username_2**: Bright comets are pretty rare, maybe every 5 years or so.  But not many people travel to see them, as they aren't particularly spectacular.  By contrast, total solar eclipses are fairly common, sometimes two per year, but people travel around the world to see them because they are quite specatular.  
> **username_3**: I'd say that entirely depends on what that amount of money means to you.  
> **username_4**: I would not spend money at this point.  As others say, something like this is every couple years on average, I think the last good one was 2020.  HOWEVER: It's already fading, and the nearly full moon is already swamping it out.  By this weekend when you'll get maybe 2–3 hrs after sunset, it is projected to no longer be naked-eye visible.  Wait 'til the next one and plan ahead based on projections for that next one.  
> **username_5**: I don’t know how “dark” your “dark” location would be, so it’s difficult to say, but I definitely would NOT travel to go see this comet if I couldn’t see it at my place. It is barely visible to the naked eye. I have seen maybe 10–15 other comets in my life, and I can easily think of 5 that were more spectacular. I’m 51, so that’s 1 per decade. I presume you’re younger, so you’ll have another chance than this not-so-spectacular comet.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_9 on 2024-10-17. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Bright comets in general are somewhat rare -- figure two or so a decade. A bright comet isn't a once-in-a-lifetime event, but it's worth traveling for.

The specific phenomenon that made Tsuchinshan–ATLAS so bright ([forward scattering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_scatter) of sunlight) is considerably less common. It requires the comet to pass between the Earth and the Sun, and is a very short-lived effect. Tsuchinshan–ATLAS has already faded to about third magnitude, and will appear as simply a blur in the sky without binoculars. It's not like Hale-Bopp, which was readily visible for months.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Ya, Hale-Bopp was nice, you just had to look up, even in the middle of a city.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2024-10-18. Score: 2

> P.S.: I do not have a pair of binoculars.

Unfortunately, you really do need binoculars. Actually, you would massively benefit from the ability to do long-exposure photography.

In an area with light pollution, at the switchover from nautical twilight to astronomical twilight, on 15.10.2024, the comet C/2023 A3 didn't have a pretty tail when viewed with 7x35 binoculars. I assume 10x50 binoculars would have been better, but probably not massively so. The 7x35 binoculars did show it clearly distinct from a star, and did show the direction of the tail, but not the full tail.

However, with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens (120mm f/2.8 ISO 1600 4-second exposure) and a full frame camera, it was quite pretty after the photo was taken:

[![120mm f/2.8 ISO 1600 full frame 4-second exposure](https://i.sstatic.net/fzcNA3J6.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/fzcNA3J6.jpg)

The tail length is about 100 times longer than what was visible using the 7x35 binoculars.

In contrast, Hale-Bopp had quite a pretty tail.

I can't comment on how C/2023 A3 was when it was markedly brighter, because here in Finland, it was so close to horizon on 12.10.2024 that I couldn't see it because the trees obstructed the view when it was dark enough.

Of course, in a completely dark area, it could be slightly prettier, and with better binoculars, more light would be available and maybe show more of the tail, but it wasn't a pretty sight with 7x35 binoculars.

**Edit:** I made a second observation on 19.10.2024. The comet was near Lambda Ophiuchi (magnitude 3.8 star) and another star with approximately 5 magnitude, the name of which I do not know. The comet's core was dimmer than both of these stars. With 7x35 binoculars, I could just about see the direction of the tail but it wasn't a pretty sight. With unaided eye, I couldn't even find the comet.

The failure to find the comet with unaided eye and the poor visibility in binoculars wasn't due to not-dark-enough skies (I waited until the end of astronomical twilight to reach night), or dark adaptation of the eye (I gave 30 minutes to adapt to the darkness). It may have been due to light pollution not causing good enough dark adaptation. But I think the main reason was that the comet's core was dimmer than magnitude 5. Of course if you integrate the total light from the comet, it probably was brighter, but the luminosity per area was less than that of magnitude 5 stars. A lot dimmer today than four days ago. The tail was shorter in the picture, even though I used 200mm focal length.

[![200mm f/2.8 ISO 1600 full frame 4-second exposure](https://i.sstatic.net/rV1aJskZ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/rV1aJskZ.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Surely it is an exaggeration that the photographic tail wasv100 times longer than in binoculars. While standing near parking lot lights, I could see a 3 degree tail with unaided eyes around 0h UT Oct 18. The tail in your photo shows an 11 degree long tail.  
> **username_6**: No, it wasn't an exaggeration. But what could affect it, is the fact that the observation time was at the very end of the nautical twilight. Also what could affect is that my eyes may not have been fully adapted to the dark. Maybe it's the eye adaptation, CMOS sensors don't need to be adapted to the dark.  
> **username_0**: Well, I was considering taking a short domestic flight that would last 2 hours (about the duration for which the comet is visible). I was hoping that at cruise height of normal domestic aircrafts would be free of light pollution enough. I could have afforded a flight for a once in 3-4 years phenomena. Unfortunately, I got sick and cannot travel, so that plan is out of the window anyway. I must say the photograph is very pretty. I can barely see a point of light with my naked eye where A3 is supposed to be (and I wonder whether I am hallucinating) from here in New Delhi. I can't even see a tail  
> **username_8**: @username_0  In my (very limited) experience, New Delhi is very hazy and I'd expect the seeing to be poor most nights.  

---

