月出时分的彗星

2024年10月4日

Comet at Moonrise
Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Zaparolli

Explanation: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is growing brighter in planet Earth’s sky. Fondly known as comet A3, this new visitor to the inner Solar System is traveling from the distant Oort cloud. The comet reached perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, on September 27 and will reach perigee, its closest to our fair planet, on October 12, by then becoming an evening sky apparition. But comet A3 was an early morning riser on September 30 when this image was made. Its bright coma and already long tail share a pre-dawn skyscape from Praia Grande, Santa Catarina in southern Brazil with the waning crescent Moon just peeking above the eastern horizon. While the behaviour of comets is notoriously unpredictable, Tsuchinshan–ATLAS could become a comet visually rivaling C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Comet NEOWISE wowed skygazers in the summer of 2020.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow’s picture: not a comet

月出时分的彗星
影像提供与版权: Gabriel Zaparolli

说明: 在地球的夜空中，紫金山–阿特拉斯彗星（C/2023 A3）变得越来越亮。这颗简称为A3彗星的太阳系内围新访客，来自遥远的奥尔特云。它在9月27日抵达最接近太阳的近日点，并将在10月12日来到最接近地球的位置，届时，它预期会是夜晚天空中很吸睛的天体。然而，9月30日拍下最张影像时，A3彗星仍然是一颗在清晨升起的天体。影像中，它曳着明亮的彗发和颀长的彗尾，在巴西南部圣卡塔琳娜州 普拉亚格兰德镇的黎明时分，与东方地平线上刚露头的残月共享这片天空。尽管彗星的行为极难预测，但紫金山–阿特拉斯彗星有机会成为像C/2020 F3（新智）一样壮观的彗星。而在2020年的夏天，新智彗星曾让天文爱好者着迷不已。

不断增加的画廊: 2024年的紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星
明日的图片: not a comet