TURKEY – OCTOBER 15: Citizens next to a decaying and unusable ship observe Comet Tsuchinchan-Atlas, Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinchan-Atlas, the brightest comet in the last 13 years in Van, Turkey, on October 15, 2024. (Ozkan photo Bilgin/Anatolia via Getty Images)
Comet C/2023 A3 Tuchinshan-ATLAS is already leaving a spectacle in the sky with images that will remain for future generations in almost the entire planet, because this is an astronomical event that will not be repeated for another 80 thousand years.
The call “Comet of the century” It was discovered in 2023 by observers from China’s Zouchenshan Observatory and the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in South Africa, and because of these institutions it was named “Tsouchenshan-Atlas,” according to NASA.
It is estimated that the celestial body could have last been seen from Earth in the time of Neanderthals but now it will only be possible to see it for a few more days so be sure to look up at the sky on these nights until around October. 25, although each night will be less bright.
Based on its orbit and certain models, it is estimated that it may have traveled up to 400,000 times the distance between Earth and the Sun before reaching us.
It’s a journey of millions of years for this comet, which was probably born in the Oort Cloud, a bubble at the edge of the solar system where minor planets and celestial bodies are hypothetically located.
(With information from AFP and CNN)
Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas appears in the western night sky as amateur photographers Nolan Letellier, left, and Link Jackson observe it on a ridge near Dry Creek Trail in Boise, Idaho. Monday, October 14, 2024 (AP Photo/Kyle Green)
Comet C/2023 A3 (ATLAS-Tuchinshan) is seen outside the Kansas State Capitol, Monday, October 14, 2024, in Topeka, Kansas. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 15: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-Atlas) crosses the sky over Joshua Tree National Park on October 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
BEIJING, CHINA – OCTOBER 15: Comet C/2023 A3 (Zuchenshan-Atlas) crosses the sky above the Dachuangqi Great Wall on October 15, 2024 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Yang Wei/VCG via Getty Images)
The comet in Torre del Pizzo, in Gallipoli, Italy (Photo: Manuel Romano/NoorPhoto via Getty Images)
The comet in North Macedonia on October 14. (Photo: Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua via Getty Images)
BEIJING, CHINA – OCTOBER 15: Comet C/2023 A3 (Zuchenshan-Atlas) crosses the sky above the Dachuangqi Great Wall on October 15, 2024 in Beijing, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
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