The Comet C/2023 made its closest approach to Earth and is moving away now but we can still see it under the right conditions. Presently, it is visible high up in the sky while flying away from the Earth and we can spot it about 45 minutes after sunset in the western sky.
The comet was at perihelion, closest distance to the Sun on September 27 and is presently more than 93 million km away from the Sun. It’s distance from the Earth is over 75 million km away and is gaining height in the sky after dusk. It will set two hours later, and will be in the sky 15 minutes longer on October 16 than the previous day.
Many Indian photographers captured the comet in several cities in Karnataka, Telangana, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir. Many of them posted pictures of the comet on social media showing the comet’s brilliant head and millions of miles long tail.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the comet originated from the Oort cloud, a spherical shell surrounding our planet, and the last time it came close to our planet was about 80,000 years ago. On February 22, 2023, it was discovered and is named after the Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
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