Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on February 22, 2023.  It was also independently observed a few weeks before in January 2023 by the Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory (Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), and that’s how the comet was named but most are simply referring to it as Comet A3.

Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was observed as a telescopic object for the months leading up to its brightening. The comet was a morning object for southern hemisphere observers and then briefly for northern hemisphere observers in late September and early October 2024. It passed perihelion at a distance of 0.39 AU (36 million miles) on September 27, 2024, and at this time that it became visible to the naked eye. The comet’s peak brightness occurred shortly after passing the Sun on October 9, 2024. A3 was picked up as an evening object around October 11, 2024.  It’s closest approach to Earth happened on Sunday, October 13, 2024 at a distance of 0.472764 Astronomical Units, or 70,724,459 kilometers.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was predicted to become a bright and naked-eye comet months prior to making it’s way into the inner solar system. Much to astronomers delight the comet lived up to those predictions, and the imaging feeding frenzy by professional and amateurs alike started to ramp up in late September 2024.

I took the images below of Comet A3 on the evenings of October 12th and 13th 2024. I used a simple setup of a tripod mounted Nikon D5100, 55-200mm lens and various ISO and exposure lengths. Click on any of the images to go to the gallery.