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Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) as seen from the Canary Islands on 30 September
CARLOS DE SAA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Earth is about to have a detailed encounter with a comet, presumably passing via its ion tail – a uncommon incidence. If we’re fortunate, it may present up as a blue streak within the northern hemisphere night time sky.
Samuel Grant at College School London and Geraint Jones on the European Area Company say there’s a good likelihood that tonight, 10 October, our planet will intersect the trail of the ion tail of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). “It’s a very uncommon state of affairs,” says…