WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — People across the northeast were mesmerized and sharing photos of the aurora borealis visible to many of us in New England late last week. 

This week, we may be able to see another rare event in the night sky. 

The Comet C/2023 a3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas is expected to be visible in the western sky early this week.

Seeing the comet is a once-in-an-80,000-year occurrence. 

Williams College is home to an observatory and these events have made for excitement on campus. 

“It’s definitely exciting," said Kevin Flaherty, who manages the telescopes students use at Williams College. "I mean, we love anything space-related so when these events come along, and they’re rare, we love to try and catch them. It's not something we study specifically here but it's still gets excitement among the students."

Flaherty says the events are great conversation starters to talk about science. 

“Something like aurora gives us an opportunity to talk about, ‘OK, how does our sun interact with our atmosphere to create these different effects,'" he said. "When we see a comet, we can talk about what is our solar system like, where do these objects come from, and where do they go, how do they change throughout their orbit, how does the sun affect them?”

The Milham Planetarium on campus holds weekly shows on Fridays put on by students for the public. 

The event is held in the Old Hopkins Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the country.

The excitement will continue on campus as Flaherty says they are tracking another comet set to appear at the end of the month.