The brightest comet in 13 years, ATLAS, is flying over Ukraine: when you can admire the unique spectacle. Photo.

Comet C/2023 A3 (also known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was spotted in the sky over Ukraine. Scientists call it the brightest in the last 13 years.

Photos of the celestial object were shared by Ukrainian Telegram channels on October 13. That evening, the comet could be seen with the naked eye in a clear sky.

Volodymyr Kazhanov, an astronomer and lecturer at the Kharkiv Planetarium, told Suspilne that on October 13-15, Comet ATLAS will be best seen in Ukraine at 18:50-19:00 pm, about an hour after sunset.

"The landmarks will be the western part of the sky, where the sun is setting, where the light from the sun is burning out in the sky. Then, as the comet moves away from the Sun, it will still be visible through binoculars and telescopes," the expert explained.

A comet in the form of a bright spot with a long elongated tail will be more visible in regions with low light pollution.

What is C/2023 A3?

Comet Csuchinshan-ATLAS is called the "comet of the century". It emerged from the Oort Cloud, a mysterious "bubble" phenomenon that holds our solar system. In fact, it is about 100 billion comet-like objects (mostly made of ice) that are located on the edge of the solar system.

It is assumed that these are fragments left over from the creation of our solar system.

Comet C/2023 A3 was discovered in 2023 at China's Tsuchinshan (or "Purple Mountain") Observatory and by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System) telescope in South Africa. Therefore, it was named in honor of both observatories.

The NASA website reports that Tsuchinshan-ATLAS successfully passed the Sun at the closest distance on September 27, 2024. Scientists assumed that the comet might disintegrate because of this: its ice could not withstand the intense heat of our star. But the comet came out of this journey more or less unscathed and has now approached the Earth at a distance of about 44 million miles.

Eventually, C/2023 may be ejected outside the solar system due to the gravitational influence of other objects and its own weak connection to the Sun. But before that, the comet still has a long way to go, said NASA astronomer Bill Cook.

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