Comet C2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) with Triple Star System Theta Serpentis

Comet C2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) with Triple Star System Theta Serpentis

Theta (θ) Serpens, Alya, is a binary star, pale yellow and gold yellow, the terminal star in the Snake’s tail. It lies southwest of Aquila, in a comparatively starless region between the two branches of the Milky Way. Theta Serpentis (θ Serpentis, abbreviated as Theta Ser, θ Ser) is a triple star system in the constellation of Serpens. It consists of a binary pair designated Theta Serpentis AB. Its components are designated Theta1 Serpentis or Theta Serpentis A (officially named Alya, the traditional name for the entire system) and Theta2 Serpentis or Theta Serpentis B, together with a third visual companion Theta Serpentis C. Based upon parallax measurements obtained during the European Space Agency's Hipparcos Mission, θ Serpentis AB is approximately 160 light-years, and θ Serpentis C is approximately 86 light-years, from the Sun.

The ancient Arabic name for Alya is Al-Alyah, “The fatty tail of a sheep”.  In the early days of Arab astronomy a space in the heavens, coinciding with parts of Hercules, Ophiuchus, and Serpens, was the Raudah, or Pasture. The ancient Chinese knew it as Sen, one of their districts.

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet from the solar system's Oort cloud discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory east of Nanjing, China, on January 9, 2023, and independently found by the automated Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in South Africa on February 22, 2023. ATLAS is funded by NASA's planetary defense office, and developed and operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. C/2023 A3 passed perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million miles) on September 27, 2024.

The Oort cloud is theorized to be a vast cloud of icy planetesimals surrounding the Sun at distances ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 AU (0.03 to 3.2 light-years).

Image Details: Quattro 200/800 et ASI1600MC : 9x60s. Traitement SIRIL et Photoshop

Image Credit: Frankastro
Image Date: Nov. 22, 2024

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