I’ve been getting more into taking photos of things in space. First was the total lunar eclipse from two years ago. Then came the amazing total solar eclipse of April, 2024. Next was the aurora borealis in May 2024. And while I patiently wait for T Coronae Borealis to explode (soonTM), a long-period comet from the Oort Cloud has decided to visit the inner Solar System.
Put simply, a comet that takes at least 80000 years to orbit the Sun has appeared. From what I’ve seen, this comet’s orbit might be hyperbolic, meaning it could be ejected from the Solar System completely. In other words, it may never be seen again. That makes it extra rare.
Background on comets
Comets are frozen balls of icy materials, dust, and rock. When a comet approaches the Sun, it warms up. This vapourizes volatile substances, which interact with solar radiation and glows. This is the tail that comets are famous for. Because comets lose some mass every time they get close to the Sun, they will eventually disintegrate.Comets can be categorized into two types: short-period, and long-period. Short-period comets are defined as having an orbital period of less than 200 years. Long-period comets have orbital periods anything greater than that, which can stretch into millions of years.
Long-period comets are thought to come from a giant cloud of comets very far away from the Sun, like how the asteroid belt contains many asteroids. This hypothetical cloud is called the Oort Cloud, and might extend about 1 light year away from the Sun. C/2023 A3 is thought to be from the Oort Cloud.
The comet was invisible to the naked eye, at least from where I was. It also didn’t help that the Moon just came out of a full moon, because it is extremely bright. A full moon is bright enough to cast shadows, which means any faint object in the sky gets drowned out.
