Comet
C/2020 M3 (ATLAS)
It was discovered by the near-Earth asteroid discovery
program, ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert
System) on 2020 June 27 and reached perihelion on 2020 October 25.
Closest approach to Earth occurred on 2020 November 14 at 0.358AU and estimated
magnitude was around 8. During that time it was moving north against the stars
of Orion and it provided many photo opportunities being found in the same wide
angle field with the Orion Nebula and the belt stars, for instance.
Timing was fortunate. Easing of
local Covid-19 travel restrictions allowed travel away from the heavy
light-pollution of Melbourne just at the time of closest approach to Earth and
New Moon, so I was able to view it under very dark, cloud-free skies and
excellent seeing. In 12x80 binoculars it was easily found as a large fuzzy
object near Bellatrix.
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