Skylive - Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was discovered by the Asteroid
Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on 22 February 2023
and it was also independently observed few weeks before in January 2023
at the Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory (Purple Mountain Observatory
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences). The official designation includes
both Tsuchinshan and ATLAS due to these independent observations.
Its retrograde orbit, meaning it moves in the opposite direction to
most major solar system objects, is parabolic-like with a perihelion
distance of 0.39 astronomical units (AU). Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
is notable and actively observed because, based on current estimations,
it is could become bright enough to be visible to the naked eye during
its perihelion passage between September and October 2024.
Courtesy of theskylive
Page updated 13/10/2024 show Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)