Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 October 19 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Flys Away Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Xingyang Cai Explanation: These six panels follow daily apparitions of comet [5]C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as it moved away from our fair planet during the past week. The images were taken with the same camera and lens at the indicated dates and locations from California, planet Earth. At far right on October 12 [6]the visitor from the distant Oort cloud was near its closest approach, some 70 million kilometers (about 4 light-minutes) away. Its bright coma and long dust tail were close on the sky to the setting Sun but still easy to spot against a bright western horizon. Over the following days, the outbound comet steadily climbs above the ecliptic and north into the darker western evening sky, but begins to fade from view. Crossing the Earth's orbital plane around October 14, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS exhibits a noticeable [7]antitail extended toward the western horizon. Higher in the evening sky at sunset by October 17 (far left) the comet has faded and reached a distance of around 77 million kilometers from planet Earth. [8]Hopefully you enjoyed some of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS's bid to become the best comet of 2024. [9]This comet's initial orbital period estimates were a mere 80,000 years, but [10]in fact it may never return to the inner Solar System. Growing Gallery: [11]Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024 Tomorrow's picture: a simulated universe __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2410/C2023A3-in-the-past-6-days.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.instagram.com/xycaii/ 5. https://theskylive.com/c2023a3-info 6. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153444/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-arrives-from-afar 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241018.html 8. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-climbs-brightens-and-delights/ 9. https://planetarium.wvu.edu/mountaineer-skies-blog/2024/10/11/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas 10. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=C/2023 A3&view=OPC 11. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.516503464411569 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241018.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241019 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241020.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/