Comet A3, also known as, imaged from the International Space Station on Sept. 20, 2024 by NASA ... [+] astronaut Don Petitt. After months of specula

In Photos: Bright New Comet Captured By Astronauts And Astronomers

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2024-09-24 19:30:16

Comet A3, also known as, imaged from the International Space Station on Sept. 20, 2024 by NASA ... [+] astronaut Don Petitt.

After months of speculation about whether comet A3 — also known as comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS and C/2023 A3 — would become visible to the naked eye when it approached the sun in late September, the first images are in. It's looking good.

"Set your alarm for dawn. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is so bright, people are seeing it in the twilight glow of sunrise," states SpaceWeather.com in an email to its subscribers.

The picks of the new images of comet A3 come from two NASA astronauts on the International Space Station, Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit, who have both published a time-lapse and images of comet A3 visible from orbit to X. "So far Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS looks like a fuzzy star to the naked eye looking out the cupola windows," wrote Dominick on X. "But with a 200mm, f2 lens at 1/8s exposure, you can really start to see it. This comet is going to make for some really cool images as it gets closer to the sun."

"It is totally awesome to see a comet from orbit, " wrote Pettit on X. "The perspective of rising through the atmosphere on edge is truly unique from our vantage point. The comet tail is still too dim to see with your eyes, but it is heading towards the sun and growing brighter every day." Petitt — who shot the comet using a Nikon Z9 camera with a 20mm lens — added that he intends to photograph the comet every day to see how the structure of the comet's tail changes.