See The Comet And A ‘Ring Of Fire’ Eclipse: The Night Sky This Week

The Night Sky This Week: Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2024.

This week’s most beautiful sky spectacle will be the sight of the waxing crescent moon alongside Venus for two successive nights. It’s also highly possible that Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be visible before sunrise from the Northern Hemisphere, while those in the Southern Hemisphere may see a partial or an annular solar eclipse. What a week to be a sky-watcher!

Here’s everything you need to know about stargazing and astronomy this week:

Monday, Sept. 30-Wednesday, Oct. 2: Comet A3 Before Sunrise

If it survives its journey around the sun, the first few early mornings of this week may be ideal for seeing comet A3 — also known as Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) — and its tail before sunrise.

From the Northern Hemisphere, look east an hour before sunrise for the comet. On Monday it will be joined by a 5%-lit waning crescent moon, on Tuesday by a lower-hanging 2%-lit crescent and on Wednesday it will shine in a dark sky.

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However, the view will be best for those close to the equator (those in the Northern Hemisphere may have to wait until mid-October for a good view). Expect it to be on the cusp of naked-eye visibility, though it could be slightly brighter (or dimmer).

Wednesday, Oct. 2: ‘Ring Of Fire’ Annular Solar Eclipse

If you know that the moon’s orbit of Earth is egg-shaped and you’re also aware that we’re in a season of “supermoon” full moons that are very close to Earth, it makes sense that new moons in the same season will be as small as they get. The proof comes today when a new moon coincides with a “mini-moon” and passes perfectly across the sun, as seen from some parts of the globe. Since it’s a small moon far from Earth, it can’t cover the entire disk of the sun. Instead, it will block about 93% of the solar disk’s center — an annular solar eclipse, better known as a “ring of fire.”

It will be visible only from the Pacific Ocean and southern Patagonia in Chile and Argentina. Remarkably, the slim path of totality includes Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, a 63 square miles (163 square kilometers) island about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) from the Chilean coast. It’s best known for its mysterious Moai, massive stone statues of the island’s indigenous Rapa Nui culture.

It is unlikely that a central solar eclipse can occur in such a remote location, but it will unfathomably be the island’s second in 14 years; Rapa Nui experienced a total solar eclipse on July 11, 2010.

For the rest of the world, today is merely a new moon, a lunar phase during which the moon is invisible and the night skies are free from moonlight.

Saturday, Oct. 5: Crescent Moon And Venus

A 6%-lit waxing crescent moon will be visible in the west sky just after sunset, about three degrees below and to the left of a brightening Venus. It’s an iconic sight in naked-eye astronomy!

Adding to the spectacle will be “Earthshine” on the crescent moon’s dark limb — sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans and ice caps onto the lunar surface. It’s just strong enough to subtly illuminate the moon’s limb.

Sunday, Oct. 6: Crescent Moon And Venus

Here’s another chance to see this month’s waxing crescent moon, now 9%-lit, close to Venus. Tonight, it will be below Venus in the western sky just after sunset.

Object Of The Week: The Next Total Solar Eclipse

This week’s annular solar eclipse, a kind of partial solar eclipse, is an interesting event, but it can’t touch a total solar eclipse for sheer drama. The next one — which will be much like April 8’s “Great American Eclipse” — is on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, when a 183-190 miles wide moon shadow will move across remote northern Siberia, eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. For Iceland, it will be the first total solar eclipse since 1954. For Spain, it will be the first of two in a row, with the south of the country destined to fall under the moon’s umbral shadow again on August 2, 2027.

The height of the eclipsed sun above the horizon will never reach more than 26 degrees. In Spain, the eclipse will occur close to sunset when the sun is between just 10 and two degrees above the horizon. A clear view to the southwest will be required— and these are the best places to be.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.