Saturday, March 21, 2020

How to See Comet Atlas in the March Sky




The first comet of 2020 will be visible in the later portion of March and into later spring. Comet Atlas is available to those who can find it. At its best viewing window relative to Earth in May, Comet Atlas will be a little over .2 AU from earth (1 AU is the distance between Sun and the Earth). 
Here is a diagram highlighting where to view the comet
in late March.
17-Passes 3 degrees from the galaxies Messier 81 and Messier 82.
29-Reaches its farthest point north, at less than 22 degrees from the North Celestial Pole, making the comet circumpolar north or latitude 22 degrees north (the northern half of Asia, and all of Europe and North America).
30-Passes into the constellation of Camelopardalis the Camel Leopard
.