Comet Spotted During Solar Flyby

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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Text: News From the Universe. 

 

October 16, 2024. Comet spotted during solar flyby. 

 

It's been 80,000 years since comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS could be seen in Earth's sky. This autumn, it has returned. 

 

The ancient, gritty cosmic snowball is a remnant of the solar system's formation. As its long orbit approaches the Sun, its material is heated and creates a streaming tail. 

 

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this time lapse photo of the comet from the International Space Station, above the South Pacific Ocean, on September 28. 

 

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint mission of the European Space Agency and NASA, captured this image on October 10. 

 

SOHO uses a disk to block out the bright light of the Sun (center) so it's easier to see details and objects near it. 

 

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For skywatchers in the northern hemisphere, in late October the comet will continue to rise higher above the horizon, faintly visible just after sunset, as it moves away from the Sun. 

 

This news was brought to you in part by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.