SALT LAKE CITY -- After a comet known as the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS dazzled the skies of Earth's northern hemisphere, folks in Utah may only get one more night to acutely view the historic event.
According to KSL Meteorologist Matt Johnson, the comet would be visible through Oct. 26. However, the time to see the comet at its brightest would likely end after Tuesday night's probable show.
The "dirty snowball" would dwindle for two reasons, Johnson said. The first -- simply because the comet is now on a trajectory moving away from Earth, where before Saturday it was headed toward our planet.
"It was closest to Earth around the 12th of October and it's now leaving our viewpoint," Johnson said.
Further, he said the comet's proximity to the sun on the way here had a lot to do with how visible it was -- more visible than any other comet in 27 years, according to EarthSky.
"Part of what makes it so visible is when it passes close to the sun, which (in this case) was in early September," Johnson said. "As it's making its way by Earth and beyond, it's moving further away and getting further away from the sun so it doesn't have a lot of heat to further the burning and evaporating of all the ice and rock."
The comet traveled from the Oort Cloud, according to NASA, which is a giant spherical shell surrounding the solar system and could be home to billions or even trillions of objects.
Johnson said the best time to view the comet would be 45 minutes after sunset, which for Tuesday was set for 6:47 p.m. in Salt Lake City, according to the National Weather Service. Tuesday night would also offer clear skies, Johnson said, but more clouds would be moving in as the state's first winter storm of the season was expected later in the week.