Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) above Kitt Peak in Arizona

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) above Kitt Peak in Arizona

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is captured here from near the 0.9-meter SARA Kitt Peak Telescope at the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Rob Sparks, the photographer, is a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador. Kitt Peak is a mountain in the American state of Arizona, and at 6,883 feet (2,098 m) is the highest point in the Quinlan Mountains.

Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, also known as the Great Comet of 2024 and formally designated as C/2023 A3, is a non-periodic comet from the Oort Cloud discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China on January 9, 2023 and independently found by ATLAS South Africa on February 22, 2023. The comet passed perihelion at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million mi) on September 27, 2024, when it became visible to the naked eye.

Credit: PNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Sparks
Release Date: Jan. 21, 2026

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