With the Hunter’s moon at their backs, sky gazers hunted for comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Thursday night in Logan Square, simultaneously pointing out planets, stars, satellites — and even planes — in the night sky.
Dozens of people turned up at the 606 Bloomingdale Trail, 1805 N. Ridgeway Ave., to observe the comet and other celestial objects at a viewing event hosted by the educational organization Chicago Astronomer.
The comet, which is named after the two observatories in China and South Africa that first spotted it in early 2023, has been visible in the Chicago area for the past few days and will leave the area’s visibility in the next couple of days.
“This is the week to catch the comet. After this week, it will become a lot dimmer, a lot smaller,” said Joe Guzman, founder of Chicago Astronomer. “It’s about 40 million miles away, more or less, and each day it’s just getting farther and farther away, so binoculars will be required or a telescope.”
After the anticipation had built, and the crowd grew larger, Guzman finally pointed out the comet with a laser beam on his large, 11-inch diameter telescope through which onlookers lined up to see the icy rock flying through space.
Spectators were also astounded by the Hunter’s moon — the largest full moon of the year — as well as the chance to see Saturn and Venus.
Maureen Hergott, 48, took her 10-year-old son, Sam Punwani, to the observation event after the first thing he told her after school Thursday was, “We’re gonna go on a wild goose chase. We’re looking for a comet,” she said.
The comet, which is named after the two observatories in China and South Africa that first spotted it in early 2023, has been visible in the Chicago area for the past few days and will leave the area’s visibility in the next couple of days.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Sam viewed the comet through Guzman’s telescope and was surprised by what he saw.
“It wasn’t as bright as I expected,” Sam said. “It was kind of like a faint green dot in the lower right-hand corner. I was surprised that it was kind of green.”
He said he was able to get a clearer view of Saturn through a different telescope.
“The Saturn one was super bright, and you could see the rings really clearly, and you could also see two of its moons,” Sam said.
Hergott, who lives in Lincoln Square, was starstruck.
“I just think it’s so amazing, especially to see what looks like you’re looking at a picture in the book but you’re actually just pointing it up to the sky,” she said. “It’s breathtaking.”
The comet has been hurling its way toward Earth’s view for roughly 80,000 years at estimated speeds of 150,000 mph. It derives from the Oort Cloud, the spherical region of icy objects that surrounds the solar system.
The last comet to grace the Northern Hemisphere skies was in 2020, and the outlook for a clear view of the next one in Chicago is hazy.
“Comets are not common,” Guzman said. “I encourage people to look up wherever you are … grab a pair of binoculars — a camera will capture it better than your eyes will observe it — and just enjoy this mysterious visitor from the deep reaches of space from the Oort Cloud.”