This story was originally Cast Wired Spanish Translated from Spanish.
C/2023 A3, also known as Tutingshan Atlas and considered the “comet of the century,” will shine brightly in the sky from September to October 2024. Due to its characteristics, astronomers believe it will be extremely bright, similar to Comet Halley in 1986 and Comet Neowise in 2020.
Comets like C/2023 A3 are balls of frozen gas, rock, and dust that orbit the Sun. What makes them so spectacular is two physical phenomena that occur during their journey.
The first is the tail, which extends from the comet’s nucleus as it approaches the star it orbits. Solar radiation from the star (in this case the Sun) causes some of the comet’s frozen material to evaporate, blowing gas and dust away from the nucleus and reflecting the star’s light. As the comet gets closer to the star, the increased solar radiation causes the tail to grow.
The second phenomenon is the comet’s coma, a film of sublimated ice that, due to solar radiation, forms a kind of atmosphere around the comet’s nucleus as it approaches the star, which also increases the comet’s brightness.
When is the best day to view the comet?
C/2023 A3 will shine in the Northern Hemisphere sky from September 27 and will be visible until the last week of October. During this period, the comet will reach its shortest distance from the Sun and then begin its journey outside the Solar System.
According to the specialist blog Cometography, C/2023 A3 will be at its brightest on October 2, when it will be closest to the Sun, which will likely result in a long and spectacular tail.
When will the comet be visible?
Because of its closeness to the Sun, the comet will move similarly to Mercury and Venus, meaning it will be visible near the horizon, in the path of the Sun, and just before sunrise. The best times to view the comet are between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM from September 27 onwards. The timings and positions will be similar throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
As October progresses, the comet will rise higher relative to the horizon and lose brightness at the same time. Comet 6/6A/Atlas is a long-orbiting object, coming from the Oort Cloud beyond the edge of the solar system, so it won’t appear in our skies again for tens of thousands of years.
