Comet C/2023 A3 might shatter into pieces as it approaches Earth
Comet approaching Earth
Comet C/2023 A3, also known as Tsuchinshan–ATLAS has been nearing Earth and was reported to be visible in the night sky in the coming months. However, things seem to have taken a turn as the comet is likely to break apart before its close approach to Earth.
The comet was to make an extremely close approach to Earth on October 12. At approximately 70.6 million kilometres (43.9 million miles) away, the comet would have been brighter than Jupiter. But that mesmerising view might not materialise as astronomer Zdenek Sekanina says that the comet might not make it to our home planet in one piece.
Sekanina says the comet might disintegrate when it heads towards the sun on September 27, at which point it will be 58.6 million kilometres (36.4 million miles) from it.
The Sun will impact the comet
He states that coming close to the Sun leads to the comets heating up and they outgas. The dust that forms their trail or coma is next to go. This action can also change the trajectory, rotation, and speed of the comet. The comet has also not brightened as expected.
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"The first issue, which was recently called attention to by I. Ferrin, is this Oort cloud comet’s failure to brighten at a heliocentric distance exceeding 2 AU, about 160 days pre-perihelion, accompanied by a sharp drop in the production of dust," Sekanina writes in the paper.
Also, this comet seems to have come from the Oort cloud as its tail is unusually thin and it also has an odd shape. Sekanina says that such objects aren't likely to escape the wrath of the Sun as they approach it. Notably, Comet C/2023 A3 will be almost as near to the Sun as Mercury.
"The comets of this class have a tendency to disintegrate if they are intrinsically faint and depleted in dust by the time they are near 1 AU from the Sun," he says.
Sekanina says "the object will disappear and cease to exist as an active comet before perihelion."
