A video recorded by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick reveals an uncommon look of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as seen from the International Space Station.
The time lapse video reveals the comet, designated C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS apparently hovering above Earth's environment as it makes its journey towards the sun.
“So far Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS appears like a fuzzy star to the naked eye watching out the cupola windows,” composed Dominick, leader of the SpaceX Crew-8 objective, in a post on X. “But with a 200mm, f2 lens at 1/8s direct exposure you can truly begin to see it. This comet is going to produce some actually cool images as it gets closer to the sun. In the meantime a time lapse sneak peek.”
Far Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS looks like a fuzzy star to the naked eye looking out the cupola windows. With a 200mm, f2 lens at 1/8s direct exposure you can truly begin to see it. This comet is going to produce some truly cool images as it gets closer to the sun. In the meantime a. pic.twitter.com/JstaSLJ4UiSeptember 19, 2024
Dominick has actually been launching spectacular astrophotography throughout his time aboard the International Space Station, recording stunning views of auroras over Earth, meteors taking off in our environment and star tracks set versus the structures of the ISS.
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His most current target, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, was all at once found in 2023 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory (Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences).
Misinterpreted for an asteroid, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was figured out to be a little comet, a simple 0.6 to 1.2 miles (1-2 kilometers) throughout. The comet is taking a trip through our planetary system in a retrograde orbit around the sun, suggesting it relocates the opposite instructions to a lot of significant things, like worlds and asteroids.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is thought to stem from the Oort Cloud, a thought area of area surrounding our planetary system that has actually not yet been straight observed. It is thought to be a huge round shell of icy bodies, consisting of comets, beyond Neptune's orbit. The Oort Cloud is thought about the source of long-period comets that take a trip into the inner planetary system, and its presence assists describe the observed trajectories of these comets.
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Comet Tsuchinchan-Atlas (C/2023 A3) as seen on July 9 from Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile. (Image credit: Taras Prystavski)
Enjoyment around C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) has actually been constructing because its discovery since while a dim item at first, a year later on it had actually lightened up by numerous orders of magnitude, ending up being brilliant sufficient to spot aesthetically, though with some problem, through 15-inch or bigger telescopes.
Throughout the rest of September and into October, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS has actually ended up being brighter, with lots of astronomers, both amateur and expert,
