2023a3 20240929 1900 mmattiazzo

A3 is really starting to put on a show. The best I’ve seen since comet Lovejoy in 2011.

The tail is growing rapidly. Now 10 degrees. (calculated 21 million kms and rising)

By mid October this should stretch out to about 20-30 degrees.

 

Perihelion +2 days

C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. 2024 September 29 at 19:00UT. Canon 60Da + Canon 50mm lens. 2x30sec sec iso2000. FOV 25x35 deg. North lower left. Location: Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia.144E 35S. 

 


 

A visual estimate at 19:00UT using 8x40mm binoculars was magnitude 2.5 with 4' coma and strong degree of condensation DC7, 

fast growing tail length now 10 degrees in PA257. 

Comparison stars Regulus (1.4), Nu Hydra(3.2). Comet magnitude was corrected for atmospheric extinction using the average table.

Visible to the naked eye, appearing as a fuzzy star of mag 2.3, with a naked eye tail 5 degrees long.

Moonlight no longer interferes. Low altitude (6 degrees)

Distance to Sun = 0.39AU (59 million kms)

Distance to Earth = 0.82AU (122 million kms)

solar elongation = 22 degrees.