A comet streaks across the sky over the water at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge on Oct. 14. Many viewers lined Wolf Creek Road to take photos and admire the rare celestial sight.
Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, a large object made of ice and dust that orbits the sun, was discovered in February 2023 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and was also observed weeks earlier by the Tsuchinshan Observatory in China. The comet, which hasn’t passed Earth in roughly 80,000 years, moves in the opposite direction of most major objects in the solar system.
Skywatchers still have a chance to see the comet until November, but as it nears the sun, visibility will decrease. Using binoculars or a telescope may help catch a glimpse of this rare astronomical event.
Photo by Kaleigh Duncan / The Volunteer
