Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) has not disappointed photographers.
The photogenic comet is currently moving away from Earth, but remains visible in the Northern Hemisphere night sky for another week or so. It has become quite dark, but can still be easily seen with binoculars high in the southwestern sky after sunset above a bright Venus.
Dubbed by some as the “comet of the century,” the comet was visible to the naked eye earlier this month as it approached Earth on October 12. Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is now only visible in binoculars for most places for the rest of the month and into early November, although it may be visible with a telescope for some time thereafter. Whether or not you’ve caught a glimpse of the comet in the sky yourself, you won’t want to miss these breathtaking Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS images that we’ve collected from readers and photographers around the world.
Astrophotographer Chris Schur captured this incredibly clear image of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (or TA) over Payson, Arizona on October 13 using an 8″ f/2 RASA Astrograph for a 6-minute exposure.
“A very deep shot of Comet TA in a blue lunar twilight ring, clearly showing the spike-like anti-tail and multiple jets in its ghostly liquid white tail,” Schur wrote Space.com.
Related: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is still visible in the night sky, but not for long
Allen Berman captured this incredible shot of the comet over a glowing ocean in Southern California on October 15.
“I never expected this. The comet was supposed to set over Malibu, CA tonight, so I went out to shoot it. While on a wide shot, I started noticing blue flashes,” Berman wrote Space.com in an e -mail.
“I actually looked behind me to see if there was a police car on the Pacific Coast Highway. Then I realized it was bioluminescence! I hadn’t seen that on our beach in years.
“So here you go: bioluminescent waves and a once-in-80,000-year comet.”
Space.com’s own Josh Dinner caught the comet over Bloomington, Indiana on October 16.
“It was hard to see with just your eyes, but in places without a lot of ambient light, it’s visible. It didn’t help that the biggest full moon of the year rose right behind me, but it gave some nice light to the barns,” said Dinner.
Stojan Stojanovski of the Ohrid Astronomy Association captured this shot of the comet over Lake Ohrid in Macedonia on October 14.
“The weather was good today and we got the maximum I think from the comet,” Stojanovsky wrote in an email. “Taken with Canon R5C at 1600 ISO, 6 second exposure.”
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Osama Fathi saw the comet over Egypt’s Black Desert on October 18, shining next to the Milky Way.
“The comet is clearly visible these days, along with Venus (below the center of the image) and part of the Milky Way arm, offering a breathtaking celestial show!” Fathi wrote Space.com in an email.
“While we were taking this picture and the moon was just rising, we could see it with the naked eye and it was incredibly fascinating.”
Mike “Mish” Shedlock caught Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in the sky above a yucca palm, also known as a Joshua tree, in the Joshua Tree National Landmark in Utah on October 15.
“Conditions were perfect. An almost full moon added light to the foreground so everything wasn’t completely dark. The base shot was about 15 minutes after sunset and the horizon was still glowing,” Shedlock wrote on his website.
Kevin McCarthy’s persistence paid off, allowing him to capture this image of the comet. “After days of trying, I was finally able to photograph Comet Tsuchinhan-Atlas in the sky above Charlotte, NC, on the evening of October 16, 2024,” McCarthy wrote.
“I missed its peak brightness and needed a slow shutter speed on my camera to get a clear, detailed image shortly after sunset.”
Jordan Ema-Otu captured this image of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) on October 14 using a smartphone.
“Photo taken at Fisherman Huts beach in Aruba. Local time 19:22,” wrote Ema-Otu.
“The phone was set for astrophotography for 4 min. The biggest struggle was protecting the phone from the wind to avoid any movement.”
Photographers with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) even caught a glimpse of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, as seen in this image taken in Germany.
“As it got closer to the Sun, it heated up and developed tails of dust and gas observed by comet observers around the world, including at ESO’s headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany,” ESO wrote in a statement accompanying the image .
Eric Bordelon captured this image of the comet over Louisiana near NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility on October 13, 2024.
“The comet is about to appear for the first time in recorded human history; it was last seen in the night sky 80,000 years ago,” says a NASA caption accompanying the image.
Like most comets, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is thought to originate in the Oort Cloud, a theorized shell of icy bodies orbiting at the outer edges of the Solar System.
While it was previously estimated that the comet takes about 80,000 years to orbit the sun, NASA now says it may leave the solar system entirely.
Want to make sure you see the next comet? Take a look at our guides on our best telescopes for beginners or the best binoculars to find the optics you need to see the next icy visitor pass the inner solar system.