Will Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Be the Brightest of the Year?

image via New Scientist

September 27, 2024, 10:45 AM

• •A recently discovered comet will almost certainly become bright enough to see without optical aid in the next two weeks.
• •The comet, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), was discovered in January 2023 and has an eccentricity of 1.000137, which is just barely hyperbolic.
• •The comet reaches perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, today, September 27, when it will be just 60 million kilometers out. That’s roughly the same distance from our star as Mercury, so the comet will be getting a big blast of heat and light.

A newly discovered comet, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), is expected to become bright enough to be seen without optical aid in the next two weeks. It may even briefly brighten so much that you'll be able to see it during the day.

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