HASTINGS — The Hastings Museum invites the public to get an up-close look at Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) with the Museum’s telescope 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct 15 at Brickyard Park near the western tree line.
The comet has been visible in all its splendor over our night sky since Sept. 27 and will remain visible through the last week of October. Some astronomers are calling this “the comet of the century” and believe it will be exceptionally bright, similar to Halley’s comet in 1986 or NEOWISE in 2020. Planetarium coordinator Kirk Rosberg will be on hand at the Brickyard viewing to tell visitors about what they are seeing.
“This is going to be the comet of year, ” Rosberg said. “It will definitely be the brightest one.”
We’ll meet by the western fence line at Brickyard park, straight south of the small parking lot near the intersection of South Woodland Avenue and West D Street.
Comet viewing will be 7:30-8 p.m., followed by a Live Sky Tonight. See constellations in the autumn sky and hear Greek mythology involving Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, Pegasus, and even a sea monster.
What is a live outdoor Sky Tonight? A normal Sky Tonight presentation in the Museum’s Planetarium is a when a group comes into the Planetarium and instead of a recorded show projected on the dome of the planetarium, the stars are projected onto the dome – specifically the exact stars that will appear in the sky THAT NIGHT. Then, the planetarium coordinator (Kirk Rosberg) uses a laser pointer to identify what’s there: stars, planets, constellations, etc. SO, an outdoor sky tonight is the same thing, except instead of a dome we use the ACTUAL night sky. The green laser pointer he’ll be using creates a long beam into the sky.
This event is weather/clouds permitting! If it is too cloudy, the event will not be rescheduled.
The public encouraged to bring:
- Their own binoculars
- Folding chair or blanket for seating.
- Questions!
