A cell-phone photograph of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS taken about 45 minutes after sunset in the Mohave Desert a few miles west of Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a 10-second exposure taken at approximately 0200 UT on 13 October 2024 (about 7:00 PM [1900] on 12 October, local time).

The nearly horizontal intermittent streak in the sky to the left of the comet is caused by flashing lights of an airplane; the bright streaks below the comet are cars on a nearby highway. The brightest star in the photograph is Arcturus.

If you have an opportunity during the next week or so, take some time to get out of the city lights to view this celestial visitor. It's particularly spectacular through a pair of binoculars. Try to see it before it departs; it won't be back for about another 80,000 years!