September 25, 2024
The Moon has changed phase thousands of times since the beginning of the cosmos, but only once did it shine on the night you arrived.
Comet A3 Through an Australian Sunrise
Birthday · September 25, 2024
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APOD published September 25, 2024. Credit: Lucy Yunxi Hu. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
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. Survey: Color Blindness and Astronomical Images Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Image credit: Lucy Yunxi Hu