Photographer:
Pepe Chambó
Location of Photo:
Farm Hakos, Namibia
Date/Time of photo:
2024 August 1, 17:49 UT
Equipment:
Takahashi FSQ106-ED, Moravian C3-61000
Description:
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) imaged on August 1, 2024, from the Southern Hemisphere, just a few days before it will no longer be observable worldwide until its reappearance in October, when it could become visible to the naked eye. In the image, the comet has an approximate brightness of magnitude 9 and displays two tails half a degree in length: a more intense greenish-white dust tail, and a narrower fainter ion tail that is beginning to reveal structural details in the form of ripples. The brightest and bluish star is 55 Leonis, with a magnitude of 6.