澳大利亚日出天空中的A3彗星

2024年9月25日

Comet A3 Through an Australian Sunrise
Image Credit & Copyright: Lucy Yunxi Hu

Explanation: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is now visible in the early morning sky. Diving into the inner Solar System at an odd angle, this large dirty iceberg will pass its closest to the Sun — between the orbits of Mercury and Venus — in just two days. Long camera exposures are now capturing C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), sometimes abbreviated as just A3, and its dust tail before and during sunrise. The featured image composite was taken four days ago and captured the comet as it rose above Lake George, NSW, Australia. Vertical bands further left are images of the comet as the rising Sun made the predawn sky increasingly bright and colorful. Just how bright the comet will become over the next month is currently unknown as it involves how much gas and dust the comet’s nucleus will expel. Optimistic skywatchers are hoping for a great show where Tsuchinshan–ATLAS creates dust and ion tails visible across Earth’s sky and becomes known as the Great Comet of 2024.

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澳大利亚日出天空中的A3彗星
影像提供与版权: Lucy Yunxi Hu

说明: 目前在清晨的天空中可见到紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星（简称A3彗星)。这颗以奇特角度切入太阳系内围的庞大“脏冰山”，将在两天内通过位于水星和金星轨道之间离太阳最近的近日点。目前的长曝光相机影像，已能清晰的拍到A3彗星及它在日出前和日出期间的尘尾。这幅摄于4天前的组合主题影像，呈现了这颗彗星从澳大利亚新南威尔士州的乔治湖后方升起的景象。影像左侧的垂直影格，所显示的是彗星升起，而日出让黎明前的天空变亮、色彩也变缤纷的过程。目前还不知道这颗彗星在接下来的一个月里会变得多亮，因为这得取决于它的彗核能释出多少气体和尘埃而定。乐观的观星者希望能目睹精彩的景观，期盼紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星能曳着横跨地球天空的尘尾和离子尾，成为留名青史的2024年“大彗星”。（C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS 紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星）