Tsuchinshan–ATLAS
long period comet
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet from the Oort cloud. It was discovered in 2023, by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China; A few weeks later, the comet was found (independently) by ATLAS South Africa; The comet passed perihelion at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million mi) on 27 September 2024,[4][2] when it became visible to the naked eye.[5][6]
 The comet on 2 October 2024, taken in Victoria, Australia | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Purple Mountain Observatory ATLAS South Africa |
| Discovery date | 9 January 2023[4] |
| Alternative designations | A10SVYR |
| Orbital characteristics A | |
| Number of observations | 2060 |
| Aphelion | ≈ 270,000 AU (inbound)[3] ≈ 3,800 AU (outbound)[3] |
| Perihelion | 0.3914 AU (58.6 million km)[2] |
| Eccentricity | 0.9999985 (epoch 1800)[3] 0.9998981 (epoch 2200) |
| Orbital period | ≈ 110 million years (inbound)[3] ≈ 235,000 years (outbound)[3] |
| Max. orbital speed | 67.33 km/s @ perihelion[2] |
| Inclination | 139.1° |
| Earth MOID | 0.275 AU (41.1 million km; 107 LD)[1] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 4.3 ± 0.3[1] |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 9.2 ± 0.3[1] |
| Last perihelion | 27 September 2024 18:00 ± 20 minutes (3-sigma)[2][1] |
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Small-Body Database: C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-03-01. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Horizons Batch for C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) on 2024-Sep-27" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-09-01. Perihelion as defined at epoch 2024-Sep-01 is QR= 3.91402E-01 (0.3914 AU).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)". Retrieved 2023-09-01. (Solution using the Solar System's barycenter (Sun+Jupiter). Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
Epoch 1800 was PR= 3.6E+9 / 365.25 days = millions of years - ↑ 4.0 4.1 "MPEC 2023-D77 : COMET C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)". minorplanetcenter.net. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ↑ "New comet – C/2023 A3 – could be bright in 2024". earthsky.org. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ↑ King, Bob (16 March 2023). "Anticipating Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)". Sky and Telescope. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
