C 2023 a3 comet

Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as seen from the International Space Station. (Matthew Dominick/X) In January 2023, a new comet was discovered. Comets are found regularly, but astronomers quickly realised this one, called C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), had the potential to be quite bright.Some hyperbolic reports have suggested it might be the "comet of the century", but any astronomer will tell you the brightness of comets is notoriously hard to predict. As I explained last year, we'd have to wait until it arrived to be sure how bright it would become.Now, the time has come. Comet C/2023 A3 is currently visible with the naked eye in the morning sky in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, with its best yet to come in the next few weeks.And it does look promising. It's unlikely to be the comet of the decade (never mind the comet of the century), but it will almost certainly become the best comet of the year.So where, and when, should you look to get your best views of this celestial visitor?So far Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS looks like a fuzzy star to the naked eye looking out the cupola windows. But with a 200mm, f2 lens at 1/8s exposure you can really start to see it. This comet is going to make for some really cool images as it gets closer to the sun. For now a… pic.twitter.com/JstaSLJ4Ui— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) September 19, 2024A show in the morning, before sunriseAt the moment, comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is a morning object, rising around an hour and a half before sunrise. It is visible to the naked eye, but not yet spectacular. However, with binoculars you can easily see the comet's dusty tail pointing away from the Sun.The comet will remain at about the same altitude in the morning sky until around September 30. It will then get closer to the horizon on each consecutive morning until it's lost in the glare of the approaching dawn by October 6 or 7.If you want to spot the comet in the morning sky, look east. The sliders below will help you orient yourself and choose the best time to look, depending on your latitude.During this period, the comet should slowly brighten. It reaches its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on September 27, when it will be 58 million kilometres from our star.As it swings around the Sun, it will continue to approach Earth, and so should continue to brighten. The best show in the morning sky will likely be during the last couple of days of September and the first few days in October, before the comet is lost to view.A potential daylight cometThanks to pure good fortune, comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will then pass almost directly between Earth and the Sun on October 9 and 10.This could cause a spectacular brightening of the comet, thanks to "forward scattering" caused by its dust. Imagine looking towards a bright light source through a cloud of dust grains. The grains nearest to the light source will scatter light from the

Updated October 1, 2024 8:41am EDT Stream FOX 35 News: ORLANDO, Fl - If you’ve seen the stunning sunrise photos from Florida’s beaches lately, you might have noticed something extra special. Early risers are capturing the beauty of Comet A3 (C/2023 A3), hovering across the dawn sky. This rare comet, discovered in January 2023, is putting on an unforgettable show—one that’s only going to get better as we move into mid-October. When to See It The prime viewing window is now through October, with the comet’s closest approach to the Sun happening around October 12, 2024. If you want to catch it at its best, plan to head out before sunrise during the next couple of weeks. This is when the comet will likely be at its brightest due to increased solar heating, causing more gas and dust to be released from its surface, making the coma and tail more prominent. Where to Look Face east, just before dawn. You’ll want to find an open area like a beach, where you can see the horizon without any obstructions. It'll appear about where trees would otherwise block it. The comet will be low in the sky, and as the days pass, it’ll become easier to spot with the naked eye as it rises. How to See It Start your search about 45 minutes before sunrise, when the sky is still dark enough to see the comet’s glow. A good pair of binoculars will bring out more detail, especially its shimmering tail. You don’t need a telescope—just clear skies, binoculars, and patience. Credit: John Winkopp (SpaceCoastPictures @John_Winkopp on X) Comets Are Unpredictable Comets can be tricky. They don’t always follow the playbook, and every now and then, they surprise us by putting on historically spectacular shows with little or no warning. This

Source back towards you.As the comet swings between Earth and the Sun, it will be perfectly placed for this forward scattering process to occur. If the comet is particularly dusty, this could cause its apparent brightness to increase by up to 100 times.If it does, there's a small chance the comet could briefly become visible in the daylight sky on October 9 and 10.However, it will be very close to the Sun in the sky, and incredibly hard to spot. Only the most experienced observers may be able to detect the comet at this time, and it requires a special technique. Do not try to stare at the Sun to see it.The best show could be after October 12After swinging between Earth and the Sun, the comet will appear in the evening sky. It will rapidly climb in the western sky, and should be a bright, naked-eye object for a few days from October 12. The sliders below will give you a sense of where to look.For the first few days of this period, the comet will still benefit from the forward scattering of sunlight, but this will decrease as it moves away.What about the tail?The positioning of the comet, Earth and the Sun in the Solar System means the comet's tail will be streaming outwards, past our planet. This means it could grow to prodigious lengths in the night sky.The bulk of that tail will likely be too dim to see easily with the naked eye, but it could be a fantastic spectacle for photographers. Expect to see a wealth of comet images flooding the internet around the middle of October.As the days pass and the comet climbs higher, it will fade quite rapidly. It will likely become too faint to see with the naked eye, even for seasoned and experienced observers, before the end of October.At that point, the show will be over. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will continue to flee the inner Solar System, moving into the icy depths of space, never to return.How reliable are the predictions?At the moment, the comet is already bright enough to consider it the "comet of the year", outshining comet 12P/Pons-Brooks from earlier this year.But remember the classic saying – comets are like cats. They have tails and will often surprise us. For now, comet C/2023 A3 is behaving itself. It's brightening predictably, and putting on a good show.But comets that approach this closely to the Sun often fragment. This is impossible to predict, and far from guaranteed. If the comet did break up, it could become even more spectacular because of all the dust and gas it would release.The opposite could still happen, too. The comet could fail to brighten as much as we expect, although that seems unlikely at this stage.Whatever happens, we're in for a fascinating few weeks of comet watching. Hopefully, a real spectacle awaits us.Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern QueenslandThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original

Currently visible just before dawn, the comet of the year will soon be visible after sunset and remain trackable through the end of October. | Published: October 7, 2024 | Last updated on October 8, 2024 Credit: Gianni Tumino Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, also known by its catalog designation C/2023 A3, is now magnitude 2.2 in the morning sky. But if you’re not an early riser, you can soon rejoice — it will become visible in the evening sky starting Oct. 14. On that date, the comet will be in the far eastern part of the constellation Virgo. On the 15th, it will have crossed the border into Serpens, and for observers in the Eastern time zone, it will lie a bit more than 1° south of globular cluster M5. If the comet is bright enough, both objects could be viewed simultaneously through binoculars. In the western U.S., Tsuchinshan-ATLAS’ motion will place it slightly southeast of M5.When you should look for the cometComet brightnesses are notoriously difficult to predict, but if the main body of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS holds together, we might be treated to a bright celestial sight. Unfortunately, when to view the comet will be something each observer would be wise to consider for two reasons.First, there’s the Moon. It will be Full Oct. 17, right in the middle of the best viewing period for Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. After that date, our satellite will rise later each evening, making viewing the comet much easier.Second, the comet never climbs high in the sky. On Oct. 15, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be 16° high in the west one hour after sunset. On the 18th (the night after Full Moon), it will stand a more respectable (and easier to spot) 25° above the horizon.Use this chart during the second half of October to locate Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. Credit: Astronomy: Roen KellyWhere you should look for the cometTsuchinshan-ATLAS will move into the constellation Ophiuchus on Oct. 19, and starting on this date the Moon will no longer hinder viewing. An hour past sunset, the comet will be 28° high in the west and will lie quite close to the magnitude 3.8 star Marfik (Lambda [λ] Ophiuchi). Observers are hoping it will be much brighter than the star.The comet will continue to move through Ophiuchus and, on the 28th, it will lie between two of that constellation’s brightest stars: magnitude 2.8 Cebelrai and magnitude 3.7 Muliphen (Beta [β] and Gamma [γ] Ophiuchi). The stellar pair is separated by 2°. On that night, the comet will stand 40° high in the southwest an hour after sunset.The prolific comet discoverer David Levy likes to say, “Comets are like cats. They both have tails and it’s hard to predict what they’ll do.” Let’s all hope

Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan–Atlas).Comet A3 from the ISS. Shot with Nikon Z9, 85mm f1.4, 1/5th sec, ISO 12800, processed with Photoshop. | Don Pettit/NASADiscovered by astronomers early last year, it is thought to orbit the sSun about every 80,000 years.So far Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS looks like a fuzzy star to the naked eye looking out the cupola windows. But with a 200mm, f2 lens at 1/8s exposure you can really start to see it. This comet is going to make for some really cool images as it gets closer to the sun. For now a… pic.twitter.com/JstaSLJ4Ui— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) September 19, 2024The comet will now continue moving toward the Sun before disappearing and reappearing again in the Northern Hemisphere on October 12.Comet rises above the horizon just before orbital sunrise amongst aurora and swirling satellites.Timelapse composed from 1/4s, 50mm, f1.2, ISP 6400 images played at 30fps. pic.twitter.com/mdb8KpzlAo— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) September 29, 2024h/t: [PetaPixel]Related Articles:NASA Releases Stunning New Photographs to Celebrate Chandra Space Telescope’s 25th AnniversaryJupiter’s Most Stunning Images Captured by NASA’s JunoCam in Sharp DetailExplore the Surface of Mars in 4K Resolution With Footage Captured by NASA’s RoversWatch Neil Armstrong Describe What Outer Space Looked like From the Moon in This Vintage Interview

Comet A3 rises up over the horizon just before orbital sunrise with aurora streaking by. 50mm, 1.2, 1/4s, ISO 6400. | Matthew Dominick/NASAAstronauts Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit are well known for their photography skills, capturing sweeping vistas from the International Space Station (ISS). Over the last few days, the astronauts have been following Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan–Atlas), discovered by astronomers early last year and thought to orbit the Sun about every 80,000 years.The comet made its closest approach to the Sun at the end of September. Now, it is expected to pass by Earth around October 13. This has allowed Dominick and Pettit to photograph the celestial body; however, the nature of the comet has presented a unique set of challenges. Luckily, it was nothing the experienced astronauts couldn't overcome.Since the comet wasn’t yet visible to the human eye, Dominick and Pettit relied on math and orbital geometry to figure out where to point their cameras. On September 29, Dominick shared some breathtaking footage of the comet rising above the horizon just before orbital sunrise amongst aurora and swirling satellites.“It is totally awesome to see a comet from orbit,” Pettit wrote on Instagram. “The perspective of rising through the atmosphere on edge is truly unique from our vantage point. The comet tail is still too dim to see with your eyes, but it is heading towards the Sun and growing brighter every day.”These images were made possible by an amateur astronomer, who told Dominick the comet would be roughly 20 degrees ahead of the Sun from the ISS’ perspective. The pair then used the software on the ISS that determine when orbital sunrise will occur.“With the naked eye, the comet is still just a dot and pretty much indiscernible from stars,” the astronaut wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “So about seven minutes prior to sunrise we started scanning the horizon back and forth with a 200mm lens looking through the viewfinder for the comet. You can imagine how we felt when it appeared. Math works!”The comet will now continue moving toward the Sun before disappearing and reappearing again in the skies of the Northern Hemisphere on October 12, when it will make its closest pass to Earth at about 44 million miles. Then it’ll be the astrophotographers on Earth who get their chance to shoot some breathtaking images of this once-in-a-lifetime comet.Astronauts Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit have been following