In February, comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas was discovered, and made an impression due to its brilliance in relation to its distance from our Sun. Now that it is getting closer to Earth, rare images of the star have been captured.
This Friday, September 27, comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas (discovered in February 2023), will reach perihelion, the moment when it will be at its closest distance from the Sun. It will be 58 million kilometers from the star, reports Futura Sciences.
Passage to the southern hemisphere
The celestial object was captured in Tivoli in Namibia in southern Africa then in Latin America in the Acatama Desert in Chile and Quixadá in northern Brazil.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
Date: 22 09 2024 UT 03h28m
Location: Farm Tivoli, Namibia
The images are getting better and better from Gerald Rhemann! pic.twitter.com/QduxkyDmaG— Con Stoitsis (@vivstoitsis) https://twitter.com/vivstoitsis/status/1837766398237413759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is finally here! u2604ufe0fu2728I captured this image this morning at 09:22 UTC from @LCOAstro in Atacama desert in Chile ud83cudde8ud83cuddf1 The view was absolutely spectacular! The clouds were constantly moving just above the horizon, but we got really lucky when the… pic.twitter.com/AoClHkatFr
— Yuri Beletsky (@YBeletsky) https://twitter.com/YBeletsky/status/1838549760577335466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The photos are very clear and yet, the comet will be at its peak of brightness only around October 10. Astrophotographers just have to prepare for this event which will not happen again for 80,000 long years; it is part of the category of long-period comets.
Now in our hemisphere
Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas is now observable in the northern hemisphere. Photos were taken in the Mogollon Rim mountain range in Arizona, United States.
MORNIN FALCON FLYBYu2604ufe0f
The week has barely begun, and the Millennium Falcon aka Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) has already tripled in brightness. “Here is a sequence of the comet rising over the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona on Monday morning,” says photographer Chris… https://t.co/ki3LjZMZ4F pic.twitter.com/ENg6B5jpga
— TeX (@Tex369X) https://twitter.com/Tex369X/status/1838551484763377938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Australian astrophotographer Michael Mattiazzo said that the “Millennium Falcon”nickname of the comet, “cleared quickly”.
The Paris Observatory speaks of Tsuchinshan-Atlas as being potentially “the comet of the century”reports Actu.fr.
