Astronomers told about comets over Russia in the fall

In the fall of 2026, Russian residents will be able to observe comets 220P/McNaught and 161P/Hartley–IRAS. However, both of them are quite dim, so you will need a large telescope and a dark sky to observe. A more reliable way to see comets is long exposure astrophotography.

Oleg Ugolnikov, a senior researcher at the Department of Observational and Theoretical Astronomy and Radio Interferometry at the ICI RAS, told the Science Mail on Thursday, September 24, that it is better to use the photographic method to confidently detect such objects. According to him, both comets are almost impossible to see with the eye in a telescope. To observe them, special shooting technology with long exposures and signal accumulation will be required, and the diameter of the telescope lens should be at least 20 cm.

Nikolai Alexandrovich, an employee of the Department of High-energy Astrophysics at the ICI RAS, clarified that under good conditions it is still possible to try to see comets visually, but the equipment requirements will be higher. To do this, you will need a telescope with a diameter of at least 250 mm and a dark sky.

Thus, for photographic registration, experts recommend using a telescope with an aperture of 200 mm or more, and for visual observation — from about 250 mm in the absence of strong urban illumination.

At the same time, you will not need to go to a specific region of the country specifically to observe comets. Ugolnikov noted that the areas of the sky where both objects are located are accessible for observations from all over Russia. Therefore, the main limitation is not the region, but the quality of the sky: for observing faint objects, it is better to choose places away from urban glare.

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""Also on September 24, honorary Doctor of Sciences, astrophysicist Sergey Chumakov told Izvestia that the first full moon of autumn will come on September 26 and in some cultures of North America it has been called the "harvest Moon" because of its proximity to the autumn equinox and the harvest period. The astrophysicist explained that in some places outside of major cities, the full Moon in September may appear brighter than the August moon.

On the eve of September 23, a team from the Research Institute of Astrophysics (CfA) at Harvard and Oregon Universities and the Smithsonian Institution reported that for the first time, astronomers were able to detect radio emission coming directly from the exoplanet β Pictoris b, which is located about 63 light-years from Earth. They estimated the strength of the magnetic field in the area where the radiation originated at at least 1.25 kilogauss, according to 360.ru .