10/15/2024
The Stranger
This is the comet C/2023-A3 Tsuchinshan. It has come into the inner solar system from deep in the Ort Cloud at the outer limits of the sun’s gravitational field. It’s on a hyperbolic trajectory as it passes by the sun, meaning that it’s not ever going to come back, it’s just passing through, a stranger and first time visitor to our neighborhood.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said “Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a passer by”
كُن في الدُّنيا كَأنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ أو عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍٍ
Shine your light, leave behind some traces of your presence, and leave in peace the way you came in.
The first photo is a close up taken on 10/12/24. The second photo on 10/14/24 is a wider angle and taken when the Earth was crossing the orbital plane of the comet and so we can see not only the comet’s tail flowing away from the sun, but also it’s Anti-Tail pointing back to the sun. The Anti-Tail only shows up when we cross the comet’s orbital plane.
Get out and see this comet with your own eyes before it’s gone.
