英语新闻丨6万多年一遇！“年度最值得期待彗星”来了

The most anticipated comet of 2024, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) can be observed by the naked eye in the western sky after sunset in the Northern Hemisphere, according to researchers.

研究人员称，2024年最值得期待的彗星C/2023 A3（Tsuchinshan-ATLAS）可以在北半球日落后的西边天空凭肉眼观测到。

"Actually, the comet reached its peak brightness on Oct 4, but it was too close to the sun for humans to see with the naked eye," explained by Wang Kechao from Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Science.

中国科学院紫金山天文台科普主管王科超介绍说：“实际上，10月4日是这颗彗星达到亮度峰值的日子，但由于当日它离太阳太近，我们很难用肉眼观测。”

The comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), with a yellow tail, is firstly discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2023. Its intense brightness has brought it to the attention of the experts and the public globally.

中国科学院紫金山天文台于2023年首次发现了彗星C/2023 A3（Tsuchinshan-ATLAS）。它一颗带有黄色彗尾的彗星，其强烈的亮度引起了全球专家和公众的关注。

On Saturday, the comet will make its closest approach to Earth. In the Northern Hemisphere, the comet will appear low in the west shortly after sunset and will be visible for about 10 to 20 minutes.

10月12日，彗星将最接近地球。在北半球，彗星将在日落后不久出现在西方低空，可观测时间约为10到20分钟。

In the following days after this, the comet is expected to be seen longer and more easily, and it is predicted that the comet will start to lose visibility in November, according to Wang.

王科超介绍，据预测，接下来几天彗星被看到的时间会更长，也更容易被观测。大约11月起，我们就很难肉眼观测到它。

This celestial spectacle also provides an opportunity of continuous observation for researchers, to explore more material composition and activity evolution of comets.

这一天文奇观也为研究人员提供了一个持续观测的机会，以进一步分析了解彗星的物质组成和活动性演化。

According to astronomers' calculations, this is a comet in a near-parabolic elliptical and retrograde orbit, which means it orbits the Sun in the opposite direction of the sun's rotation (from west to east) and takes more than 61,000 years to travel around the Sun.
根据天文学家的计算，这颗逆行轨道彗星在一个近抛物线的椭圆轨道上运行。也就是说，这颗彗星绕太阳运行的方向与太阳自转方向（自西向东）相反，且环绕太阳一圈需要61000多年。

celestial

adj. 天空的，天上的

elliptical

adj. 椭圆形的

observatory

n. 天文台；气象台

retrograde

adj. 逆向的，后退的