Comet C/2023 A3
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is in the evening sky! And it’s the brightest comet in 27 years, the brightest since Hale-Bopp in 1997. The closest approach to Earth was on 12 October 2024. The comet does not approach close to the giant planets of the Solar System. The orbit is weakly bound to the Sun before entering the planetary region of the Solar System. Due to planetary perturbations, the outbound orbit will have a smaller eccentricity than the inbound orbit. So the orbital period and aphelion distance become much shorter. The weakly hyperbolic trajectory may or may not result in the comet being ejected from the Solar System.
Comet C/2023 A3
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is in the evening sky! And it’s the brightest comet in 27 years, the brightest since Hale-Bopp in 1997. The closest approach to Earth was on 12 October 2024. The comet does not approach close to the giant planets of the Solar System. The orbit is weakly bound to the Sun before entering the planetary region of the Solar System. Due to planetary perturbations, the outbound orbit will have a smaller eccentricity than the inbound orbit. So the orbital period and aphelion distance become much shorter. The weakly hyperbolic trajectory may or may not result in the comet being ejected from the Solar System.