‘Comet of the century’ seems to develop physics-defying second tail as it zooms past Earth
Anti-tail appears to shoot in opposite direction of comet’s actual tail
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The “comet of the century” that was likely last seen by the Neanderthals seemed to develop a physics-defying second tail as it reached its closest point to Earth in over 80,000 years.
Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, or A3, grew visible to stargazers around the world in late September and could sometimes be seen by the naked eye.
The comet, discovered only in 2023, comes from the Oort debris cloud at the edge of the Solar System and orbits the Sun once every 80,660 years.
The last time it zoomed past the Earth was around 80,000 years ago, when the Neanderthals were still around.
In its current approach, the comet reached its closest point to Earth on 12 October, flying to within 70 million km of our planet.
Some astronomers have dubbed A3 the “comet of the century” due to its bright and clear appearance.
Despite the clouds and moonlight, the comet was a magnificent sight. The brightness was 1m5 but the 10° tail was visible without any problem.
— Michael Jäger (@Komet123Jager) October 13, 2024
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS 2024 oct. 13 17.35 UT 17sec NikonZ F-50/2.8 Z50mod Michael Jäger, AZM Martinsberg pic.twitter.com/vwYnrMb61N
A picture taken on Sunday by Austrian photographer Michael Jäger appears to show the comet with not only its usual bright tail, but also a much fainter structure in the opposite direction, called an “anti-tail”, Live Science reported.
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS 2024 oct 15 17.17 UT 15x20sec Leica-Apo-Telyt f-280/4.0 QHY600 2x2 bin Filter UV/IR field 7x5°
— Michael Jäger (@Komet123Jager) October 14, 2024
Michael Jäger, Hochart, Burgenland pic.twitter.com/651dlsNNFg
A comet tail is formed by dust and ions blown off the speeding rock by solar wind. The dust trailing the rock reflects sunlight while gaseous components become ionised to give a faint glow, which tends to dim as the ions cool down.
A3 though is seemingly led by a “physics-defying” anti-tail, Nasa noted last year.
The rare phenomenon is caused by the Earth moving through the comet’s orbital plane, the American space agency explained.
As the Earth crosses the space rock’s plane of orbit around the Sun, the cooled dust and ions get reilluminated by sunlight. This could appear to shoot in the opposite direction of the comet’s actual tail, scientists said.
C/2023 A3 2024 oct. 15 17.30 UT 10 min Zeiss-Milvus f-135/2.8 Nikon Z6mod Michael Jäger & Gerald Rhemann Hardegg, Austria pic.twitter.com/9BRA7cgq9V
— Michael Jäger (@Komet123Jager) October 15, 2024
“The anti-tail does not lead the comet, it is just that the head of the comet is seen superposed on part of the fanned-out and trailing dust tail,” Nasa said.
The anti-tail was recently also seen in photos of the green comet E3, which had a tail pointed towards the sun instead of away from it.
The rare comet using binoculars until 30 October. It could decrease in brightness from 15 October but may become visible again to the naked eye in late January next year, experts said.
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