C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is a non-periodic comet from the Oort Cloud that became the "Great Comet of 2024," dazzling skywatchers worldwide in October 2024. After passing perihelion at 0.39 AU on 27 September 2024, it peaked near apparent magnitude -4.9 on 9 October, making it the brightest comet visible in the Northern Hemisphere since Hale-Bopp in 1997. Its nearly parabolic orbit means it may not return for tens of thousands of years, if ever, as solar-system perturbations could eject it onto a hyperbolic, one-way path.

Designation

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

Type

Great comet

Orbital period

Non-periodic (~80,000+ years; possibly hyperbolic ejection)

Discovery

Purple Mountain Observatory (Tsuchinshan), China, 9 January 2023; independently by ATLAS (South Africa), 22 February 2023

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