UAF physicists to break out telescopes for community comet viewing, if weather allows [Video]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – Astronomy Magazine is calling it “the comet of the year,” and for a short time this month, the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet will glide across Alaska’s nighttime horizon.

The University of Alaksa Fairbanks (UAF) Geophysical Institute and Physics Department are hoping to capitalize on the occasion with a community viewing event, but the “dirty snowball” will need a hand from the weather to live up to its headline-grabbing glamour.

UAF space physicists are planning to set up four Celestron telescopes for public use at the Butrovich Building on campus sometime this week — if visibility permits, that is.

“They’re the sort of telescopes that an enthusiastic amateur might buy,” UAF Professor of Physics Mark Conde said by phone Monday.

Staff at the Purple Mountain Observatory in China first discovered the comet in January 2023. Until now, the celestial visitor hadn’t traveled near Earth in 80,000 years.

In addition to favorable weather, the window to …