A reader captured the passage of comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas. Vincent Vilela took the photo between Les Éboulements and Baie-Saint-Paul on Sunday evening.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the comet will be able to be seen throughout the Northern Hemisphere for “around ten days” continuing its journey that began millions of years ago.
AFP also mentions that “this small body of rock and ice was detected in January 2023 by the Chinese Purple Mountain Observatory (Tsuchinshan), which gives it the first half of its name. He owes the second to the confirmation of his existence by a telescope from the South African Atlas program.
When comets approach our star, the ice contained in their core sublimates and releases a long trail of dust, reflecting sunlight. It is then said that the comet degasses with the formation of a characteristic hair, the coma, sometimes at the risk of disintegrating,” we also read.
Éric Lagadec, astrophysicist at the Côte d’Azur Observatory, who spoke with AFP mentions that the comet, visible from Saturday throughout the Northern Hemisphere, Tsuchinshan-Atlas will be a little higher each evening in the sky, observable by looking to the west for around ten days.
However, each day, it will decrease a little in brightness as it moves away from the Sun, warns the astrophysicist.
Barring obstacles on its route which may modify the trajectory, Tsuchinshan-Atlas follows an orbit which should not bring it closer to the Earth for 80,000 years, specifies this comet specialist.
Based on the comet’s orbit and some models, it is estimated that it may have been up to 400,000 times the Earth-Sun distance before reaching us.
This journey is counted in millions of years for this comet which probably saw the light of day in the Oort cloud, a hypothetical and gigantic assembly of tiny planets and celestial bodies at the edge of the solar system.
