First glimpse of comet visible over San Antonio will be Friday night

SAN ANTONIO – Astronomy lovers, rejoice! A comet will be visible over San Antonio from October 11 through 18 at dusk.

KEY POINTS:
40 minutes after sunset
Look west, just above horizon
Find Venus (really bright star) and look a little to the right
Binoculars help
Only seen for a short time at dusk
Best viewing next week (10/14-10/18)
The first glimpse will be the evening on Friday (10/11) evening, but it’ll be low on the horizon, so it may be difficult to see. However, it will progressively get higher in the sky every evening with the best viewing next week.

It’ll only be visible for a short time each evening at dusk (about 40 minutes after sunset), so the window of opportunity should be roughly 7:40pm-8:00pm. Ideally, find an open area away from city lights, look toward western horizon, find Venus (looks like a bright star), look a little right of Venus, and the comet should look like a hazy star with a small tail.

For the most precision, first spot Venus, then extend your left arm out in front of you with a closed fist. The comet should be two and a half fist lengths to the right of Venus.