Comet 144P/ Kushida
BEST TIME TO SEE: 1–18 Januar y and 28 January into early February
Comet 144P/Kushida is well placed for Northern Hemisphere viewing currently, passing along a track that takes it from southern Aries at the start of the month, towards the Hyades in Taurus at the end of January. It’s a ninth-magnitude object that will be best seen through a small or larger telescope.
On 1 January, 144P/Kushida sits 2° to the south of mag. +5.8 Uranus, a situation that provides a good navigational guide for finding the comet. Over the following days, 144P/Kushida heads east, passing 5° north of the pair of stars Xi (ξ) and Omicron (ο) Tauri on 11–14 January. It’s on 11 January that the comet crosses the border from Aries into Taurus. Its track after this date has it heading directly for the point of the V-shaped Hyades open cluster, marked by Gamma (γ) Tauri.
At the end of the month, from 21 to 31 January, 144P/Kushida passes 9° south of the Pleiades open cluster as it approaches the Hyades. Consequently, a wide-angle photo of the region will prove an interesting catch, especially if you can record the comet over several days and combine the images to show how it moves through the scene.
The enemy of diffuse objects like comets is the natural light pollution created by the Moon. The first new Moon of 2024 occurs on 11 January. Viewing from early evening 1 January until 18
January will give you dark, moonless skies in which to enjoy the comet. The Moon then causes a nuisance as it passes through the region where the comet is located, its full phase occurring on 25 January. Consequently, the period from 19 to 27 January will be problematic. From 28 January into early February, early evening dark skies will once again form an excellent window through which to view 144P/Kushida.