The most anticipated comet by astronomers, enthusiasts and simply those curious about the sky, is currently passing between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn at the insane speed of 290,664 km/h, after leaving the Oort Cloud. Scientists have predicted that Tsuchinshan–Atlas, this mass of ice and rock with a core between 6 and 15 km in size, will reach its perihelion, its minimum distance from the Sun, around September 27about 58 million km from our star.
From now on The comet will begin to approach Earth, reaching its minimum distance of 83,776 million km on October 12. when it is expected to reach maximum brightness. The most conservative estimates indicate a magnitude of -0.1, making it brighter than most stars.. What has particularly intrigued scientists is the uncertainty about how the comet will react to its close passage with the Sun.
One hypothesis is that it could fragment due to heating and sublimation of the ice, greatly increasing its brightness reaching a magnitude of -6.6making it exceptionally bright, up to one hundred times larger than any other comet that has appeared in Earth’s skies during the twenty-first century.
(Comet/NASA)