Comets Blog
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) did not disappoint last month. After reaching a brilliant peak at magnitude -3 to -4, though it was only within a few degrees of the Sun at the time, the comet reappeared in the evening sky at around 0th magnitude. Though it quickly faded as it moved higher in the sky, a tail up to 20 degrees in length was visually observed. Imagers also detected the predicted anti-tail. Tsuchinshan-ATLAS starts November in the evening sky at 6th magnitude. Since it is moving away from the Earth and Sun, it will continue to fade and should be around magnitude 9 at the end of the month.
November will be the last month to see 13P/Olbers visually as it approaches solar conjunction. Northern hemisphere observers may be able to observe short-period comet 333P/LINEAR, which may reach 10th magnitude at the end of the month in the morning sky. While 333P/LINEAR will be a low-elevation object for southern hemisphere observers, they will have C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) to themselves. C/2024 G3 comes to perihelion in January at a close 0.09 au from the Sun. Though it will be located very close to the Sun when at its brightest, there is an outside chance that this could be a nice object from the southern hemisphere after its perihelion.
The monthly ALPO Comet News PDF can be found here. All are encouraged to join the discussion over at Cloudy Nights.
Comets News Headlines
Meteors Shed Light on Comet Composition
8/22/2024
In
a study recently published in Icarus, researchers using visual and video
observations of 47 young meteor showers have found differences in the
sizes of meteoroids produced by short-period and long-period comets. The
difference in meteoroid sizes may be a relic of the conditions in the
early solar system when these objects formed. Jupiter-family comets
usually crumble into smaller, denser meteoroids, whereas long-period (Oort
Cloud) comets often crumble into sizes indicative of gentle accretion
conditions.
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Comet's impact triggered downfall of ancient Hopewell?
2/1/2022
The rapid decline of the Hopewell culture about 1,500 years ago might be explained by falling debris from a near-Earth comet that created a devastating explosion over North America, laying waste to forests and Native American villages alike. Researchers found evidence of a cosmic airburst at 11 Hopewell archaeological sites in three states stretching across the Ohio River Valley.
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New comet C/2021 O3 Might Brighten in May 2022
1/20/2022
A comet discovered last July is approaching the inner solar system and might reach binocular visibility (at least) by late April and early May 2022. It’s designated C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS) and appears to be “new” to the inner solar system, a first-time visitor. If it survives its April 2022 passage near our star, the comet might become visible to amateur stargazers armed with binoculars in May. At that time, it’ll be in front of the constellation Perseus the Hero, close to the northwestern horizon after sunset.
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