“The comet should still be visible for two weeks”, an astronomer from Lot gives his advice

“We saw it from our home in the center of Cahors, it looked like a plane but motionless. We came here to see better,” explained a Cadurcien on this Sunday, October 13. On the road leading to Mont Saint-Cyr, half a dozen cars were parked on the shoulder. Indifferent to the ballet of bats, everyone looked west to see the Tsuchinshan-Atlas comet. The star had already disappeared below the horizon. So some tried their luck again the next day or the following days. But the overcast weather ruined their hopes.

Is it now too late to observe the comet in the Lot? No, believes Raphaël Mellac, astronomer and founder of Anima’Ciel. “The weather is not very cooperative but I was able to observe it last night,” he said on Thursday, October 17. This astronomy professional offers some advice.

• 8 p.m., the ideal time

“From evening to evening, it moves away from the sun, so it sets later and later,” he explains. “On Friday, it passed very quickly below the horizon. On Sunday, it was spectacular.” Clearly, each evening, the period during which we can see it lengthens. Some believed that one had to wait until the night was very dark to look at the horizon. And no: “8 p.m. is the ideal time: it stands out against the starry sky. Yesterday, it went to bed around 9 p.m.”.

If some speak of an object which resembles a plane stationary in the sky, Raphaël Mellac describes what may resemble an elongated cloud but with a clearly brighter core. “And if we observe it from evening to evening, we see that its position changes in the sky,” he adds.

You have to look towards the west, a little above the horizon. “You reach up to the sky, fingers outstretched, and she’s a hand or two above the horizon.” The simplest thing is to use an application like Stellarium, advises the astronomer. And, of course, you have to choose a place from where you have a clear view to the west: “On the Valentré bridge, we won’t see it… For the Cadurcians, the ideal is Mont Saint-Cyr even if there is a little light pollution. He cites Trespoux-Rassiels, Labastide-Marnhac or even the hillsides towards Saint-Pierre-Lafeuille.

Although there is still time to observe the comet, this week poses two difficulties for amateurs: the moon is very bright and, above all, the sky is overcast. “There will perhaps be a slot on Sunday,” hopes Raphaël Mellac. As an enthusiast, he watches, juggles with the weather and explains his tips: “I look at satellite images [sur la météo]. Yesterday, I saw that there was a gap: an hour and a half before, I saw that Agen was not under the clouds.” Which meant clearings to come in Cahors. “Sometimes, it just wait for a cloud to break.”

• Maybe two more weeks

The other side of the coin is that as it moves away, Tsuchinshan-Atlas is less and less bright: “It should still be visible for two weeks, but less and less luminous”, continues the astronomer who recommends binoculars although it is still clearly visible to the naked eye. Comets are quite unpredictable stars with very changeable activity, even if “this one seems quite stable”. In short, “we should not make plans on the comet. There may be an explosion of gas on the surface which could make it brighter. Or on the contrary, weaker activity.”

Clearly, the Lotois have not lost all chance of seeing the one which has been nicknamed “the comet of the century”. “Don’t call it that, we’re at the beginning of the century,” slips Raphaël Mellac, “I hope there will be others.”