Asteroid Near Sun (Representative Image - Canva)A comet named C/2023 A3 also referred to as Tsuchinshan–ATLAS which is brighter than Jupiter will come towards Earth and might break apart before closer to our planet on October 12.
The comet will make an extremely close approach to Earth around 70.6 million kilometres (43.9 million miles), the comet's brightness will give a mesmerising view to the stargazers while it passes by Earth.
The heat causes the ice within the comet to vaporize, releasing gas and dust particles into space.
The proximity of the comet to the sun will be similar to the distance between mercury and the sun.
The greatest time to observe is before dawn when the comet is higher in the sky.
Asteroid Near Sun (Representative Image - Canva)
A comet named C/2023 A3 also referred to as Tsuchinshan–ATLAS which is brighter than Jupiter will come towards Earth and might break apart before closer to our planet on October 12.
The comet will make an extremely close approach to Earth around 70.6 million kilometres (43.9 million miles), the comet's brightness will give a mesmerising view to the stargazers while it passes by Earth.
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According to the Czech-American astronomer and scientist Zdenek Sekanina, the comet will not be able to reach Earth in one piece, he explained that the comet will disintegrate when it approaches the sun on September 27,36.4 million miles away from our home planet.
The sun being a blazing ball of hot plasma emits light and heat, and the comet's proximity to the sun will trigger it to break apart making the comet go through a process of outgassing due to the composed of comet is of ice, dust, and rocky materials. The heat causes the ice within the comet to vaporize, releasing gas and dust particles into space.
The released gas and dust from the comet's coma will create an envelope that surrounds the nucleus and a tail and this occurrence will give a perfect view to the observers on Earth.
The action of outgassing will also impact the trajectory, rotation and speed of the comet according to Sekanina, she also said the comet's brightness is not as he speculated.
He has described comet characteristics that the tail is thin and in odd shape additionally its origin is from the Oort clout, it is not easy for the object such as this comet to escape the sun. The proximity of the comet to the sun will be similar to the distance between mercury and the sun.
Sekanina has stated that "The comets of this class have a tendency to disintegrate if they are intrinsically faint and depleted in the dust by the time they are near 1 AU from the Sun," He further added, "the object will disappear and cease to exist as an active comet before perihelion."
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To see this breathtaking picture, pick a dark location away from city lights to reduce light pollution, and bring binoculars or a telescope to improve the view. The greatest time to observe is before dawn when the comet is higher in the sky. Overall, researching outgassing is vital because it helps anticipate the comet's future position and behaviour.
