A seemingly impossible phenomenon in the sky: Comet A3, last seen in the Stone Age, appears to have grown another tail

New images of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, also known as “Comet A3“, appear to show a faint “anti-tail” pointing the wrong way. This extra strange fringe is the result of a rare optical illusion that is only possible when a earth in a certain, suitable situation Living science.

The “one-in-a-lifetime” comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS It appears to have grown a physics-defying second tail after it made its closest approach to Earth for the first time in 80,000 years, new pictures show. However, in reality, the extra finger is an optical illusion that occurs due to the position of our planet in relation to the object seen by the naked eye.

C/2023 A3, better known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, is an unusually bright comet that likely originates from the Oort Cloud – a reservoir of frozen material in the outer reaches of the solar system. The comet was first discovered in early 2023, passing between Saturn and Jupiter on its way to the inner planets. Subsequent observations showed that the comet probably orbits the Sun once every 80,660 years – and suggested that it may have disintegrated, which was later confirmed to have incorrect.

Tsuchinshan-ATLAS has been visible to the naked eye for the past few weeks after orbiting the Sun in late September. However, his brilliance peaked in the following few days it made its closest approach to Earth on Saturday, October 12when it was about 70.6 million kilometers from our planet – about 180 times further from us than the Moon. The comet is visible to millions of people in different parts of the world.

Astronomer captured Comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS with two tails

On Sunday, October 13, astronomer Michael Jäger photographed Tsuchinshan-ATLAS streaking across the night sky near Martinsberg, Austria. In addition to the usual bright tail, improved versions of the photos showed that the comet had a fainter streak of light, called an “anti-tail,” coming away from the body in the opposite direction, according to Spaceweather.com .

On Monday, October 14, Jäger captured another, even sharper image of the comet and the extra rim.

A comet’s tail consists of two streams of dust and gas that are blown away from the comet by solar radiation, meaning that its tail always points away from the Sun.

So anti-tails seem to defy physics because they can be identified by the sun. However, these additional tails are not made up of debris thrown by the comet. Instead, they are made of dust recently left behind by the comet in its orbital flight around the Sun. When the Earth passes through this plane, as it did over the weekend, this debris is illuminated by the Sun and reflected back to Earth, giving the impression of a second tail

The chances of seeing Tsuchinshan-ATLAS with our own eyes are rapidly diminishing, as the comet’s glow soon fades as it moves away from Earth and back into the solar system. – outside However, it should be possible to see the comet with good binoculars or a small telescope over the next few days.

It is also possible that a newly discovered comet, “sungrazer”, will be visible to the naked eye later this month, when it passes by the Earth before doing a “slingshot” around the Sun. However, recent observations now suggest that it may break up before we get there, Space.com reported.