{"id":66092,"date":"2024-11-28T13:48:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T13:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/7286595b-e65a-4631-b1c2-219916c06bc6"},"modified":"2024-11-28T15:39:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T15:39:38","slug":"fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Fare thee well, comet A3. A tribute to one of 2024’s best astronomical events"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 28 November 2024 at 13:48 PM<\/p>

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If you haven\u2019t seen Comet C\/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS<\/a> yet, there is good news and bad news.<\/p>

The good news is that it is still visible in the evening sky\u2026 just\u2026 if you know when and where to look for it.<\/p>

The bad news is that it has now faded far below naked-eye brightness, and can only be seen through telescopes or captured by cameras.<\/p>

More on comet A3<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>
Comet A3 photographed from space<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>
Comet A3 from Mount Etna<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>
Artist sketches A3 from west of Ireland<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <\/div>

Credit: NASA <\/figcaption> <\/figure> <\/div> <\/div>
$\"Comet$
Comet C\/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, captured by Gergely T\u00f3th from La Palma, Canary Islands, 1 October 2024, 06:00 UTC. <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
How the Comet A3 story unfolded<\/strong><\/h2>
In October 2024, Comet A3 was easily visible to the naked eye, low in the west after sunset.<\/p>
It was at its best around 14 October, but while comet watchers in the US and many European countries enjoyed lovely views of it at that time, and shared beautiful images of its glowing tail stretching out behind it more than a dozen degrees long, observers in the UK were left frustrated by cloud, and many (including me!) missed the comet shining at its best.<\/p>
A few days later the clouds finally parted and many observers enjoyed their first post-perihelion views of Comet A3, by then shining close to Rasalhague <\/a>as darkness fell.<\/p>
But as November 2024 draws to a close and Santa\u2019s reindeer gallop towards us, the comet has faded considerably.<\/p>
$\"Comet$
Comet C\/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan ATLAS captured by Stuart Atkinson from Cumbria, UK, 16 October 2024 <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
It is drifting slowly across the Milky Way, almost lost in its frothy star clouds, and is being ignored by all but a small band of die-hard comet observers.<\/p>
For Comet A3 the show might not be over, but the orchestra is preparing to play the encore.<\/p>
As it flies away from the Sun and from our telescopes, binoculars and cameras too, how will we remember Comet A3?<\/p>
$\"Comet$
Comet C\/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan ATLAS captured by Stuart Atkinson from Cumbria, UK, 19 October 2024 <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
Comet A3 memories<\/strong><\/h2>
When it was discovered, some hoped \u2013 even predicted \u2013 that A3 would become a very bright naked eye comet, perhaps even becoming a Great Comet like Hale-Bopp was.<\/p>
The press jumped on those predictions, and soon the internet was abuzz with giddy talk about how \u201cthe Comet of The Century\u201d was on its way!<\/p>
But most comet experts didn\u2019t think that, and instead predicted it would be at best a very attractive naked eye comet and photographic target, visible to the naked eye but not so bright that it would be slap-across-the-face obvious like Hale-Bopp was.<\/p>
And that turned out to be the case.<\/p>
$\"Comet$
Comet C\/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over Mount Sinai on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, captured by Osama Fathi, 28 September 2024, 05:30 local time. <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
A3 was a good comet, one of the best for years, a lovely sight through binoculars and telescopes and easy to capture using DSLRs, phone cameras and the new generation of tracking telescopic cameras.<\/p>
But A3 never brightened enough to become a ‘Great Comet’, and the wait for the next one of those continues.<\/p>
$\"Chart$
Comet A3 is fading fast, but technically still visible in December 2024. Credit: Pete Lawrence <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
Last goodbyes<\/strong><\/h2>
So, farewell Comet A3!<\/p>
It was great to hang out with you for a while, and many of us will cherish our views and photographs of you<\/a>.<\/p>
You might not have been a Great Comet, but many of us thought you were a great comet and we\u2019ll miss you.<\/p>
But the next truly Great Comet is still out there, waiting to be discovered. Or is it?<\/p>
Perhaps it was found a few days ago, and its discoverers are getting ready to announce it?<\/p>
Or maybe it was discovered last night, recorded as a tiny smudge on an image being taken of something else, and hasn\u2019t been identified yet.<\/p>
We\u2019ll have to wait and see\u2026<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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By Published: Thursday, 28 November 2024 at 13:48 PM If you haven\u2019t seen Comet C\/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS yet, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that it is still visible in the evening sky\u2026 just\u2026 if you know when and where to look for it. The bad news is that it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":66093,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/11\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events.jpg",2560,1760,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/11\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/11\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events-300x206.jpg",300,206,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/11\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events-768x528.jpg",768,528,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/11\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events-1024x704.jpg",800,550,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/11\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events-1536x1056.jpg",1536,1056,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/11\/fare-thee-well-comet-a3-a-tribute-to-one-of-2024s-best-astronomical-events-2048x1408.jpg",2048,1408,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Thursday, 28 November 2024 at 13:48 PM If you haven\u2019t seen Comet C\/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS yet, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that it is still visible in the evening sky\u2026 just\u2026 if you know when and where to look for it. The bad news is that it…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/66092"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}