The photographer from Lanzarote, Juan Méndez, captured the passage of the "comet of the century" through the sky of Lanzarote this past Sunday. The celestial body C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan Atlas, as it is actually called, was last Saturday at the closest point to Earth.
This event could already be observed with the naked eye in the skies of the Canary Islands at the end of September looking east at dawn, but now it can be seen at sunset. This astronomical phenomenon will not be repeated for another 80,000 years.
Despite the fact that the meteorology was not favorable to observe the passage of the comet, due to the amount of clouds that covered the sky, Juan Méndez managed to take advantage of the clearings that were opening to capture with his camera the passage of the "comet of the century". The photograph was taken at 8:18 p.m. at night, from Playa Blanca in Lanzarote.
According to what the astrophysicist and popularizer of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), Alfred Rosenberg, told Efe, the "ideal" vision of this star will arrive on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Each day there will be 15 more minutes of observation and its tail will be "more spectacular" after having passed near the sun, since it has been ionized and will also be less rectilinear.
Rosenberg points out that the 19th and 20th of October will be when the best photographs can be taken, after the full moon is gone.
