The famous comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas will appear again in the skies of Jordan and the world in the coming days

Arab Weather - Dr. Ammar Al-Sakaji, President of the Jordanian Astronomical Society, said that the Tsochenshan-Atlas Comet C/2023 A3 will approach the perihelion point on Friday, September 27, which is the closest distance from the sun, estimated at 58 million kilometers, during its journey, which takes about 80 thousand years to complete a full orbit around the sun, although some new classifications indicate that its orbit may be non-periodic, meaning that it may never return.

Where can the comet be spotted?

This comet can be observed from Jordan and the northern regions of the globe using optical means with relative difficulty, as it requires some observational skills. It will be in the morning, i.e. an hour before sunrise in the east, in the constellation Sextant, and will be at low altitudes, as its maximum altitude will be 6 degrees at dawn on Friday before sunrise, which makes it difficult to observe. The best time to observe this comet is from 5:15 to 6 am on Friday, September 27, from the eastern horizon towards the east-south-east direction with respect to Jordan’s geographical location, using optical tools such as binoculars or telescopes.

Can a comet be seen with the naked eye?

It may be seen with the naked eye in Jordan when it returns from its journey behind the sun and is closest to Earth on October 13, 2024, when the distance between the comet and Earth will be about 70 million kilometers, and it will be in the evening, as we mentioned previously in a special statement on Roya TV last June, when the Jordanian Astronomical Society monitored and photographed it and we published the photos during its first approach to Earth, when it was at a distance of 271 million kilometers on June 3, 2024.

It is worth noting that the Zuochenshan-Atlas comet was discovered by the ATLAS observatory system on February 22, 2023, and was independently observed a few weeks earlier in January 2023 at the Zuochenshan Observatory of China, affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Source of the famous comet Tsochenshan-Atlas

The comet is believed to originate from the Oort Cloud in our solar system, a vast cloud of rocks and icy asteroids surrounding the sun at a relatively large distance of 2,000 to 200,000 astronomical units. This cloud replenishes and maintains a stable population of long-period comets entering the inner solar system, where they may eventually be consumed and destroyed as they approach the sun. There is a "possibility" that Friday will be the day of the demise and disintegration of Comet Tsochenshan-Atlas, especially as it approaches perihelion.

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