C/2023 A3, known as Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, is a long-period comet discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China and independently recovered by the ATLAS survey, a network of robotic telescopes, which gave the comet its double name; Tsuchinshan is an older spelling of Zijinshan, or Purple Mountain. It was faint when found, far beyond Jupiter, but astronomers soon realized that it might become bright. It passed its closest point to the Sun in September 2024 and became easily visible to the naked eye in the evening sky of October 2024, with a broad, curved tail, drawing wide public attention and media talk of a comet of the century. Its orbit is so long that it will not return for many thousands of years, if at all.
Before and after
- 20232023 Brazilian Congress attack
- 20232023 Gabon coup d'état
- 20232023 antisemitic riots in the North Caucasus
- 20232023 becomes the warmest year on record
- 9 January 2023Discovery of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)
- 15 January 2023Premiere of The Last of Us
- 27 January 20232023 Jerusalem synagogue shooting
- from 1 February 2023 to 4 February 20232023 Chinese balloon incident
- 3 February 20232023 Ohio train derailment
More in Universe & space
- 4 October 1957Launch of Sputnik 1
- 20 August 1977Launch of Voyager 2
- 28 July 1989Discovery of Galatea
- 23 July 1995Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
- 15 May 2005Discovery of Hydra
- 10 September 2005Discovery of Dysnomia
The era
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