Comet seen over Paya Lebar & Lakeside, will be visible in S'pore skies in Oct. 2024

A comet will be streaking through the skies over Singapore this October.

According to Facebook page Stargazing Singapore, the comet was spotted at Paya Lebar early in the morning on Sep. 25, at around 5:52am.

Here's a shot of it at the same location at 5:45am on Oct. 1.

Another photographer managed to capture it at Lakeside, on the same day at around 6:15am.

What is a comet?

Comets are large objects made of dust and ice that orbit the sun. Its core, called a nucleus, can span up to 16km across.

They have a streaming tail, and are leftovers from the formation of the solar system billions of years ago.

This particular comet photographed over Singapore is more specifically known as Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).

According to Stargazing Singapore, the comet will be visible in Singapore skies in the early morning (between 5:45am to 6:20am) till Oct. 5.

It will then reappear in the evening from Oct. 14 onwards in the west.

For interested stargazers, the comet is visible through binoculars, but not through the naked eye.

Top photo from Wei Zhong and Chai Jurn Wei, from Stargazing Singapore / FB