Credit & Copyright: Nico Lefaudeux
Explanation:
How bright and strange will the tails of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS become?
The comet has brightened dramatically
over the few weeks as it passed its closest to
the Sun and,
just three days ago, passed its closest to the Earth.
C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanBATLAS) became of the
brightest comets of the past century over the past few days,
but was unfortunately hard to see
because it was so nearly superposed on the Sun.
As
the comet
appears to move away from the Sun, it is becoming a
remarkable sight -- but may soon begin to fade.
The featured animated video shows how the comet's tails have developed,
as viewed from Earth, and gives one prediction about how they might further develop.
As shown in the video, heavier parts of the
dust tail that trails the comet have begun to appear to
point in
nearly the opposite direction from lighter parts of the dust tail as well as the comet's
ion tail,
the blue tail that is pushed directly out from the Sun by the
solar wind.
Growing Gallery:
Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr' |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
