The infrequent visitor
Comet Tsuchinshan (officially known as C/2023 A3, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) paid us a visit this week, and I was lucky to get some clear skies with a decent view of it. With all the daily chaos in today’s world, I find it calming to look at something that won’t be seen again for another 80 millennia.
It’s also pretty mind boggling to think that the last time the comet was here 80,000 years ago, swinging by in its hugely elliptical orbit from way out at the edge of the Solar System in the Oort cloud, that humans as a species had probably not even migrated out of Africa yet.
If there were sentient life on Comet Tsuchinshan, maybe they’re think “Quite a bit of change since the last visit. I’ll see what they’re up to next time, if they’re still around.”
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
Photos taken with Fujifilm X-H1, with 55-200mm lens at 100-150mm. 2-3 second exposures. Processed in Capture One Pro.
