Comet 2023A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on Apr 13, 2024


Date & Time: Apr 13 2024, from 21:03 to 21:24 JST(+0900)
Composed 8 shots with 3 minutes exposed
Optical: Meade 25cm(10") Schmidt-Cassegrain with conversion lens (f=1600mm, F6.3)
with IDAS LPS-P1 Light-pollution suppression filter
Auto-guided with Meade LX200 Equatorial & Lacerta M-GEN
Digital Camera: Nikon D810A
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...14bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(4080×4080)
Device Size...20×20mm
Sensitivity...ISO4000, White Balance...Daylight


The comet 2023A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, captured in its first photograph on this day, was nearly at its opposition. It was located approximately 13 degrees northeast of Spica in the eastern part of Virgo, exhibiting an 11th magnitude coma. From the somewhat elongated oval coma extending slightly north to south, a short tail was observed extending towards the east. The comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is expected to approach the Sun to within 0.4 astronomical units by the end of September 2024, brightening to a magnitude of 0.
View angle: 0.70×0.70°


2023A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on May 3, 2024
2021S3 PanSTARRS on early morning of May 4, 2024

Copyright(c) 2024 by Naoyuki Kurita, All rights reserved.
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