Notices by AkaSci 🛰️ (akasci@fosstodon.org), page 4

Here is another outstanding image of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) taken yesterday from the Canary Islands by professional photographer Marina Prol.

@vrruiz
#Comet
9/n

According to the website http://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/2023A3 run by @giddgvb, the brightness of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) has reached magnitude 1.8. There are reports of it being visible to the naked eye under good viewing conditions.

Note that the comet will get closer to the Sun as seen from earth over the following days, making observations difficult, until it emerges in the evening sky around October 10.
8/n

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) reached and survived perihelion on Thursday, Sept 27. Here is another pic taken this morning by Astronomer Yuri Beletsky from his excellent vantage point at 2,282 m altitude near the Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) in the Atacama desert in Chile.
☄️
#comet
7/n

Astronaut Matthew Dominick posted this stunning pic of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), taken from the International Space Station, with an aurora lighting up the horizon during orbital sunrise.

Matthew Dominick launched to the ISS on March 3, 2024 as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. He has been posting amazing pics from the ISS during his stay there.

#comet
6/n

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is now visible low in the sky just before sunrise. Best seen using binoculars or a telescope.

Perihelion will be tomorrow. It will get closer to the Sun as seen from Earth in the coming days and be visible in the evening sky after Oct 10. Closest approach to earth is on Oct 12. It may become very bright as its tail gets backlit by the Sun.

This composite image was taken at Lake George, NSW, Australia on Sep 21 by Lucy Yunxi Hu.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
1/n

Here is the current location of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS).

Tsuchinshan–ATLAS originated from the Oort cloud and was discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory on 9 Jan 2023 and independently found by ATLAS South Africa on 22 Feb 2023. Its period is millions of years and will likely not appear again.

Distance from Sun today = 0.4 AU
Distance from Earth = 0.98 AU
Perihelion: Sep 27
Closest approach to earth: Oct 12

https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=Tsuchinshan-ATLAS&view=VOPC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2023_A3_(Tsuchinshan%E2%80%93ATLAS)
2/n

Here is a spectacular pic of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) taken by Astronomer Yuri Beletsky before sunrise on Sep 24 at 09:22 UTC from the Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) in the Atacama desert in Chile, using a Nikon camera with a telephoto lens.

https://www.lco.cl/
#Comet
5/n

Here is the observed and projected light curve of comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS from the excellent website http://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/2023A3 by @giddgvb

Apparent magnitude 6.5 and below are visible to the unaided eye, under good visibility conditions (lower magnitude means brighter). Objects about 3 magnitudes fainter can be seen with binoculars.

Current brightness is around 3. Peak brightness at mag 2.5 is expected around Oct 10. Forward scattering by the Sun may cause mag -2.5 level brightness.
4/n

Here is the current location of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) in the eastern sky just before sunrise, as seen from Atlanta. It is low in the sky before sunrise and requires good observing conditions to be seen using binoculars.

The comet will get closer to the Sun (as seen from earth) in the coming days and then emerge on the other side around Oct 10 and be visible, hopefully much brighter, in the evening sky.

The comet is visible in both hemispheres.

https://theskylive.com/planetarium?objects=sun-moon-c2023a3-mercury-venus-mars-jupiter-saturn-uranus-neptune-pluto&localdata=33.749%7C-84.38798%7CAtlanta%20GA%20(US)%7CAmerica%2FNew_York%7C0&obj=c2023a3&h=11&m=00&date=2024-09-26#ra|10.713648495253643|dec|-6.106966756528713|fov|80
#comet
3/n

Here is another outstanding pic of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) taken by Astronomer Yuri Beletsky before sunrise on Sep 26 from the Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) in the Atacama desert in Chile, using a Nikon camera with a 135mm telephoto lens.

As well all know, the comet does not look this majestic to the unaided eye.

https://www.lco.cl/
#Comet
5/n

The NY Times endorses Kamala Harris for President !!

"It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He has proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities — wisdom, honesty, empathy, courage, restraint, humility, discipline — that he most lacks."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/opinion/editorials/kamala-harris-2024.html
1/n

Here is the "Open Letter from Leaders of the Science and Technology Community" by the "Geeks and Nerds for Harris Walz" group.

You can add your name as a signatory of the Open Letter at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScouef4bhwdmGYWwVBp4C3fkYnWT566bRoENBvSHZfTRKWYLA/viewform

Main website: https://geeks.forharris.org/
Online event on Tuesday, September 24, at 8 p.m. ET.
:startrek: ✨
@KamalaHarrisWin
#Science
2/n

Here is the schedule of speakers and performances at the exciting "Geeks and Nerds for Harris Walz" online event on Tuesday, September 24, at 8 p.m. ET.
:startrek: 🦸♀️ 🦸♂️
We will post the YouTube link when it becomes available.
@KamalaHarrisWin
3/n

"Unite for America" online event today Thu Sep 19 at 8 p.m. EDT with Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey and >100 grassroots organizations.

Register at https://events.democrats.org/event/693000/

@KamalaHarrisWin
#UniteForAmerica #HarrisWalz
1/n

Since many folks on twitter are going gaga over this image of the "historic first private spacewalk" where tech billionaire Jared Isaacman stuck his head out of SpaceX Dragon for a few minutes, we thought it might be interesting to reminisce about some spacewalk images from NASA.

No doubt the SpaceX mission itself was an impressive feat, given where we are today.

First, the first American spacewalk by NASA astronaut Ed White during the Gemini 4 mission on June 3, 1965.

Credit: SpaceX NASA
1/n

Here are a couple of dramatic pics from the final spacewalk of Hubble Servicing Mission 1 on Dec 9, 1993.

NASA astronaut F. Story Musgrave is anchored at the end of the Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm in both pics.
Astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman (bottom of frame in pic 1) assisted Musgrave with final servicing tasks on that day.

https://science.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/hubble-celebrates-25-years-since-first-repair-mission-in-space/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/this-week-nasa-history-sts-61-lands-dec-13-1993/

#NASA
3/n

Next, these images of NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II from Feb 7, 1984, during the STS-41B mission, when he made the first ever untethered free flight using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) and starred in one of the most memorable images of our time, an image that inspires us to this day.
https://www.nasa.gov/history/photos-from-sts-41b/
2/n

Candice Bergen (who played a single mother as Murphy Brown) at the Emmys -

"Oh how far we've come. Today the republican candidate for VP would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work here is done.
Meow."
1/n

The reaction from the Harris-Walz campaign has been, shall we say, swift.
5/n

Have you heard or read anyone claiming that this was a good idea?

Actually, we do. Please proceed, Mr. trump.
4/n