Where Can I See the Comet in the Bay Area? Plus, Stunning Photos of Local Sightings

This story has been updated.

This year, Bay Area residents have been treated to several rare astronomical events, such as solar eclipses, auroras and meteor showers.

Now, the latest celestial event on display is a “cosmic snowball” — a rare comet that was last visible around 80,000 years ago and that astronomers estimate won’t be visible again for another 80 millennia.

“The last appearance was before written records were made, and the next one may see a very different Earth from the one we have today,” Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer and professor at the University of San Francisco’s Fromm Institute, wrote in his blog post.

The newly-discovered comet is formally known as Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, named after the two observatories that first spotted the comet: China’s Tsuchinshan “Purple Mountain” Observatory and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in South Africa.

How to see this comet

This comet, which is reportedly the brightest such comet in 27 years, can be seen with the naked eye from now until the end of the month — although binoculars or telescopes will offer the clearest views.

The best time to see the comet is about 45 minutes after sunset, and the comet light show will last for approximately 20 to 30 minutes after the sun goes down.

“For the next few days, it will be visible close to the brightest night object, the planet Venus,” Fraknoi said. Viewers can look towards the west horizon of the night sky, get their eyes accustomed to the dark, and enjoy the view. You can also track the comet on TheSkyLive or through astronomy and sky apps like Stellarium, SkySafari and Star Walk.

While the comet won’t be as bright as earlier this month, when the comet was at its closest to our planet, you still have a chance of catching a glimpse of this snowy dirtball on a clear night until the end of the month.

“Each day, the comet is higher in the sky and will thus be visible a little bit longer before it sets in the West,” Fraknoi said.

Here’s a roundup of some of the rare sightings of the comet in the Bay Area.