A comet approaching Earth is visible from Puerto Rico

A comet that will come a little closer to Earth in the next few weeks, It is already visible from the islandAs reported Astronomical Society of the Caribbean (SAC).

This is about C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), a comet which is closest to the Sun Friday, September 27When it passes at a safe distance from Earth October 12.

“We confirm that it is already visible from Puerto Rico between 5:15 AM and 5:25 AM on the eastern horizon, where the sun appears at sunrise.. It's a small comet with a 1.2- to 2-kilometer nucleus, so if we try to see it this week, it will look like a faint cloudy star, showing little hint of a trail or tilted tail. “About 45 degrees up and to the right, but actually the tail is best seen in binoculars or taking several seconds of photography,” he pointed out. Eddie IrizarrySAC's Science Liaison.

Victor Rivera, one of the SAC astrophysicists, captured the best images of comet “A3” from his home in Isabela early this Sunday.

Comet A3 will remain near the eastern horizon until the end of September, after which it will disappear from our sky for about two weeks as it transitions into the evening on its approach to the Sun, the academy pointed out. the sky

“If it does not disintegrate as it approaches the Sun, it will reappear on the western horizon between October 12th and 14th when it gets dark, and if it maintains the expected gradual increase in brightness, we assert that this comet will be well visible to the naked eye, but will be visible in all its splendor with binoculars or a small telescope. ” highlighted Nelson Ortega, Vice President of SAC.

What can you expect?

While some predictions of how bright it will be are somewhat optimistic, SAC urged not to get too high.

“If it becomes reasonably bright during sunset in mid-October, even better, but this object may deceive many if we get carried away by some sensational articles, in which they even call it the 'comet of the century.' We look forward to it,” the organization noted.

“One problem is that you can't detect it without optical aid, and another different problem is that it can be clearly seen with the naked eye, to see how irregular comets are,” he urged PEOPLE. Pending updates and new footage on SAC Networks.

SAC explained that comets are space objects similar to asteroids, but covered in ice and dust. Water vapor and gases were found to be escaping from their interior, forming the “coma” or cometary atmosphere.

“That's why they look like a diffuse or hazy sphere, and as they get closer to our star, they start to feel the heat of the Sun and ice, and then form the strange tail that we observe in many comets,” Education added. It made thousands of people look up to the sky.

The telescope that discovered the object is part of the “Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System” (ATLAS) project. However, it was independently detected by the Purple Mountain Observatory (Tsuchinshan) in China, and for this reason, the comet was named C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).