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LOOK UP! A comet, a supermoon, and a meteor shower. Oh my!

Calling all skygazers! There is a lot to see in the night sky over the next several days, including a comet, a nearly full moon, and a meteor shower that will peak soon!

By: Katie McGraw

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Calling all skygazers! There is a lot to see in the night sky over the next several days, including a comet, a nearly full moon, and a meteor shower that will peak soon!

The weather will be great, too, for any outside activity this weekend. Plan for clear skies each night with gradually warming temps.

1. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS or Comet C/2023 A3, or even more simply put, Comet A3, was discovered last year and will be visible over the next several days. It will be getting higher in the sky each night but also getting dimmer each night. According to local Astronomer Jay Reynolds, on Saturday the comet was 44 million miles away from Earth and was 47.3 million miles away on Wednesday. Technically, it will be visible in late October. This should be visible by the naked eye but easier to see with binoculars or a telescope. Head outside around 30-45 minutes after sunset. On Thursday, the sun will go down in Cleveland at 6:42 p.m.

Reynolds also said you must have a clear view of the southwest because the comet is so low in the sky. It will only be about 20 degrees above the horizon. The horizon is zero degrees. If you put your arm straight out and make a fist, the top of your fist is about 10 degrees. So trees, buildings, and streetlights could easily block your view. Reynolds also said the eastside shoreline will offer a much better view than to the west because of the angle. It should look like a fuzzy, vertical line, low in the sky.

2. Super Hunter's Moon! Technically, the moon became full early Thursday morning but will appear full through Friday. A supermoon is when the moon is closer to Earth, appearing bigger and brighter. This supermoon was the brightest and biggest of all full moons in 2024, according to NASA! The October full moon is called the hunter's moon and indicates it is time to hunt for the winter as the leaves fall. The last supermoon of the year happens in November!

3. Orionid Meteor Shower peaks on Oct. 20-21. This is not one of the best meteor showers of the year with a maximum of about 10 to 20 meteors per hour. Compare that to the Perseids, when 50-100 meteors are possible every hour. But also, on Oct. 20, the Moon rises near Jupiter, with the giant planet looking extremely bright. You should be able to find them low in the east after around 10 pm. So, it's still worth a look outside!