Stargazers in for once in a lifetime treat as rare, brighter comet visible

• Scientists call this the second moon of the Earth
• This comet appears once every 80,000 years 

By Yohan Perera and Chaturanga Samarawickrama   

Sri Lankan stargazers will be in for a once-in-a-lifetime treat when a comet, as a recently identified comet is growing “brighter than expected” and could be the most impressive one of the year for them.   

In fact, two rare celestial events that may be visible in the night sky are expected during the coming days, scientists said yesterday.   

One of it will be the comet C/2023 A3 which is going to be visible after 80,000 years and the other is the asteroid 2024 PT 5 which the scientists call the second moon of the Earth.   

The comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) which was discovered in 2023 s said to become visible once every eighty thousand years (80,000) years will be seen with the naked eye in Sri Lanka after sunset today, Space Scientist and Engineering Lecturer Gihan Weerasekera said.   

He said the comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is approaching its closest encounter with the sun and is becoming brighter.   

“While it appears as a faint fuzzy dot to the naked eye, a modest telescope or binoculars will reveal its magnificent tail in vivid detail. Skywatchers in Sri Lanka can witness this rare celestial event tomorrow evening after sunset,” scientist Weerasekera said.   

“The comet will be visible 45 minutes to an hour before sunrise in the eastern sky. What makes this event extraordinary is that this comet belongs to the category of Long-Period Comets, with an orbital period of around 80,000 years,” he said.   

“This means it takes 80,000 for years to complete one revolution around the sun. The last time it travelled close to the sun was 80,000 years ago, making this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” the scientist said.   

There are other comets such as Halley’s Comet which appears once in 76 years. This comet was last visible in 1986. Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock and ice. They have different orbiting periods. Some comets orbiting takes a few years, and decades, while the orbiting period of others could be millions of years.   

Meanwhile Chairman Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technology Professor Chandana Jayaratne said Asteroid 2024 P T 5 would be visible from Sunday. The Asteroid will enter the earth’s orbit on Sunday, September 29 and will travel with the moon for a period of about two months. It will be released from Earth’s gravity thereafter.