The "once-in-a-lifetime" comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS looks like it has grown a physics-defying second tail after reaching its closest point to Earth for more than 80,000 years, new photos reveal. However, in reality, the extra limb is a visual illusion that occurs thanks to the position of our planet relative to the naked-eye object.
C/2023 A3, more commonly known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, is an unusually bright comet that likely originates from the Oort Cloud — a reservoir of icy objects in the outer reaches of the solar system. It was first discovered in early 2023 barreling between Saturn and Jupiter as it headed toward the inner planets. Follow-up observations revealed that the comet likely orbits the sun once every 80,660 years — and suggested that it may have been disintegrating, which later turned out to be inaccurate.
