NASA astronaut snaps footage of glorious comet flying through space

An icy visitor is 关键字1flying through the inner solar system.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, also called Comet C/2023 A3, has grown brighter as it's approached the sun, allowing astronauts aboard the International Space Station to capture vivid footage of this ancient ball of ice, rock, and dust. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick recently posted a view of the comet rising beyond Earth as the station zipped through its orbit at some 17,500 mph.

"Comet rises above the horizon just before orbital sunrise amongst aurora and swirling satellites," the space agency's flight engineer posted online. The comet makes its appearance at the bottom of the view at about 12 seconds into the short clip.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.

In this view from Sept. 29, the comet is some 75 million miles from Earth, and 38 million miles from the sun (Earth is 93 million miles from our star). As comets approach the sun, they heat up and eject dust and gas into space, leaving long wakes of millions-of-miles-long material, as you can see below. Comet C/2023 A3 just made its closest approach to the sun on Sept. 27, and is now en route to the profoundly frigid realms of the deep solar system.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Comets have a lot of material to burn, as they're typically miles long to tens of miles long. "When frozen, they are the size of a small town," NASA explained. One particular comet, discovered in 2021, is a whopping 85 miles wide.

---

Related Stories

---

• Aliens haven't contacted us. Scientists found a compelling reason why.
• Black hole shot a beam through space. NASA snapped stunning footage.
• The best telescopes for gazing at stars and solar eclipses in 2024
• Comet caught strangely zigzagging its way through space
• If a scary asteroid will actually strike Earth, here's how you'll know

Although Dominick captured the comet with a camera, he did note that it's visible to the naked eye from the space station, too. And down on Earth, it might be visible to skygazers. The "best show," as the comet zooms between Earth and the sun, is likely to happen in mid-October.

But if this comet eludes you, or you can't escape to dark enough skies, enjoy the view from space.

---

Featured Video For You

---

10 mind-blowing discoveries from the James Webb Telescope

---