As Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) passed through space, some caught a glimpse of a spectacular object, it seems to have sprouted a tail, twice.
The comet, which was discovered in January 2023, reached its epicenter—the point in its orbit where it is closest to the Sun—on September 27. Its path then sent it on a path to its closest point to Earth on October 12. A3 takes about 80,000 years to complete the cycle. one of the Sun, so long that, during the last part of its cycle, Neanderthals were roaming the Earth, long before even telescopes were invented.
According to EarthSky, this comet (known as Comet A3, for obvious reasons) is special, as it is brighter than the entire sky of our planet in 27 years, leading some to call it the Comet of the Century. Therefore, it is a big thing, and this big thing has just grown a strange “anti-tail”.
This is an amazing simulation of the behavior of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) by. @nlefaudeux 🤩 #Comet # Astronomy #TsuchinshanATLAS #Come on #CometC2023A3 #Tsuchinshan #C2023A3 #FollowTheComet pic.twitter.com/lpAWezXzp4
— Yuri Beletsky (@YBeletsky) September 27, 2024
What astronomers didn’t expect was a confluence of gravity, light, and physics that made the comet appear to have a regular tail trailing behind it in some views, while in others, it appeared to be shooting from the front.
Comet A3’s tail, like all comets, is made up of dust and gas blown up as the object heats up as it passes closer to the Sun. The front tail, known as the anti-tail, is made of some of the same material, and is an optical illusion. As dust leaves the comet, some remains in the orbital plane of the parent body. As Earth passes through that plane, the debris reflects sunlight, giving us on Earth the appearance of a secondary tail, according to EarthSky.
The quirk appeared in several photos, perhaps most prominently in one taken by astrophotographer Michael Jäger, who posted this image to LiveScience. The anti-tail can be seen in photos and videos posted on social media.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is finally visible from the Netherlands, and it’s putting on a show.#comet #comet #CometC2023A3 pic.twitter.com/gISUinSo1P
– Gijs de Reijke (@GijsDeReijke) October 15, 2024
Despite now moving far from Earth, Comet A3 is still visible in the sky (the comet is currently visible in the west at sunrise), even without a telescope or telescope, but it won’t last long. By the end of the month, it will be out of range. If your nights are full for the next two weeks, and you won’t get a chance to look, you might want to start criticizing yourself a little. It will only take Tsuchinshan-ATLAS another 80,000 years to approach Earth again, so unless you’re big on cryogenics, you probably won’t get another chance.
