Just days after comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas (C/2023 A3) peaked at a brilliant +2 magnitude on October 12, 2024, the Lake Forest College Astronomy Club hosted a campus-wide viewing event led by senior Dean Kousiounelos in collaboration with the Physics department.
During this time, the comet’s tail was visible with a good pair of binoculars, drawing in dozens of eager students ready for a closer look. The comet was photographed with the STELLINA from Vaonis, the newest member of Lake Forest College’s collection of citizen astronomy telescopes. This photo, made of 131 stacked images, reveals the vivid details of the comet’s nucleus and its impressively extended tail, formed as the comet interacts with the Sun’s solar wind and radiation pressure. Originating in the distant Oort Cloud, this remarkable comet is currently on an 80,000-year journey around the Sun and was first detected by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China and verified by the ATLAS telescope in South Africa.
Dean Kousiounelos was a student in CIERA’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in summer 2023, and continued working at CIERA in summer 2024. As of fall 2024, he is a Senior at Lake Forest College.
- Science