This faint comet requires a large scope, but its proximity to a 5th-magnitude star in Corona Borealis will help you find it.
Comet Wierzchoś brightens night by night as it slowly loops inward, passing 11th magnitude in September and 9th magnitude in late October. Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly
- Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś), with a magnitude of 15, exhibits close proximity (less than 0.5°) to the 5.4 magnitude star Lambda Coronae Borealis in the western sky.
- Observation requires a dark location and a large telescope due to the comet’s low magnitude.
- The comet’s position relative to Lambda Coronae Borealis is noted: approximately 18’ northwest tonight, shifting southwest tomorrow, maintaining a similar distance.
- Optimal viewing is after 10 PM local daylight time (40° N 90° W) when the comet is at a high altitude (50°).
Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś) is passing less than 0.5° from magnitude 5.4 Lambda (λ) Coronae Borealis in the western sky this evening. The comet is quite faint at 15th magnitude, so you’ll want a dark observing site and a large scope to net it. Fortunately, you have the luxury of waiting until the sky is fully dark — even by 10 P.M. local daylight time, Wierzchoś is still 50° high.
At that time, look for Corona Borealis, whose curved figure sits above Boötes the Herdsman, who is anchored by the bright star Arcturus. Wierzchoś is located in a relatively sparse region of sky in northern Corona Borealis, just west of the star Eta Herculis in the Keystone of Hercules.
Tonight, Wierzchoś is some 18’ northwest of Lambda, so once you find this star, you’ll have the comet within your field of view and can bump up the magnification until you spot it. You can return tomorrow to see that Wierzchoś has moved southwest of the same star, still roughly the same distance away.
Sunrise: 6:24 A.M.
Sunset: 7:37 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:50 A.M.
Moonset: 9:54 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (27%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.