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Animation: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Tails Prediction

Explanation: How bright and strange will the tails of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS become? The comet has brightened dramatically over the few weeks as it passed its closest to the Sun and, just three days ago, passed its closest to the Earth. C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) became of the brightest comets of the past century over the past few days, but was unfortunately hard to see because it was so nearly superposed on the Sun. As the comet appears to move away from the Sun, it is becoming a remarkable sight -- but may soon begin to fade. The featured animated video shows how the comet's tails have developed, as viewed from Earth, and gives one prediction about how they might further develop. As shown in the video, heavier parts of the dust tail that trails the comet have begun to appear to point in nearly the opposite direction from lighter parts of the dust tail as well as the comet's ion tail, the blue tail that is pushed directly out from the Sun by the solar wind.

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I caught it tonight, through thin clouds. Huge tail easily seen with direct vision. Kind of neat, you can see the globular cluster M5 up in its tail!
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Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 4:38 am I caught it tonight, through thin clouds. Huge tail easily seen with direct vision. Kind of neat, you can see the globular cluster M5 up in its tail!
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Click to view full size image

Nice, Chris! At first I hardly believed you when you said that globular cluster M5 is seen through the comet's tail in your picture. I mean, there is a reasonably bright (fifth magnitude) foreground star just a few arc minutes away from M5. Shouldn't we see that star, and shouldn't it be located very close to M5? There is a star a good distance away from M5 (which itself looks like a fuzzy crescent), and surely that isn't the star we are looking for (MQ Ser)?

But it is. You convinced me, Chris.


Palomar 5 is another globular cluster. But it is very faint at twelfth magnitude.


Ann

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS by Fotis Mavroudakis, on Flickr


This is Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS after sunset over mountain Paggaion, Greece on October 15, 2024. Below the celestial event, the city of Kavala, Greece, sparkles with lights at the edge of a calm sea. I
mages are also showing a faint, downwards or sun directed tail, which is called the anti- tail silhouetted against the mountainous landscape

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 4:38 am I caught it tonight, through thin clouds. Huge tail easily seen with direct vision. Kind of neat, you can see the globular cluster M5 up in its tail!

Excellent! M5 is clearly visible as well. I see a few "double" stars in the area of the comet's head- are these artifacts due to separate exposures at slightly different times, each aligned on the comet's head? Also, I see a faint anti-tail (unless I'm imagining it).

Nice job.

Steve

Ann wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 5:42 am

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 4:38 am I caught it tonight, through thin clouds. Huge tail easily seen with direct vision. Kind of neat, you can see the globular cluster M5 up in its tail!
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Click to view full size image

Nice, Chris! At first I hardly believed you when you said that globular cluster M5 is seen through the comet's tail in your picture. I mean, there is a reasonably bright (fifth magnitude) foreground star just a few arc minutes away from M5. Shouldn't we see that star, and shouldn't it be located very close to M5? There is a star a good distance away from M5 (which itself looks like a fuzzy crescent), and surely that isn't the star we are looking for (MQ Ser)?

But it is. You convinced me, Chris.


M5 and tail of Comet ATLAS Chris Peterson October 14 2024.png


Palomar 5 is another globular cluster. But it is very faint at twelfth magnitude.


Ann

Here's an annotated version. MQ Ser is the same as 5 Ser.
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That is the most freaking amazing video I have ever seen! Wow!! We should bask in the glory of what we can do with our gizmos these days!

This comet picture as taken by my daughter in Rapid City, SD on Oct. 14,2024 about 8 PM MDT.