[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/www.ieec.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/slider-comunicacio.jpg” max_height=”130px” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”24px||11px|||” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Unitats de recerca” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|700||on|||||” text_font_size=”16px” header_font=”|700|||||||” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” header_font_size_tablet=”28px” header_font_size_phone=”26px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoiY3VzdG9tX21ldGFfb3JnYW5pemFjaW9uZXMiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiIiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsImVuYWJsZV9odG1sIjoib2ZmIn19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_title author=”off” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” admin_label=”T\u00edtol i data” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”Cairo|300|||||||” title_font_size=”40px” meta_font=”||on||||||” meta_font_size=”16px” hover_enabled=”0″ title_font_size_tablet=”35px” title_font_size_phone=”30px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text admin_label=”Subt\u00edtols” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Source Sans Pro||on||||||” text_font_size=”24px” text_line_height=”1.1em” hover_enabled=”0″ text_font_size_tablet=”22px” text_font_size_phone=”20px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_post_title title=”off” meta=”off” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” border_width_top=”10px” border_color_top=”#406fda” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_line_height=”1.1em” background_color=”rgba(64,111,218,0.15)” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”30px|20px|30px|20px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Caption:<\/strong> Stacked 45-second exposure image with Johnson V, R and I filters of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” link_font=”|700|||on||||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n On 12 October, comet Tsuchinshan reached its closest point to Earth, some 70 million kilometres away. The <\/span>Montsec Observatory<\/span><\/a> (OdM), managed by the <\/span>Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia<\/span><\/a> (IEEC \u2014 Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) and located in the town of Sant Esteve de la Sarga (Pallars Juss\u00e0), obtained very detailed images of this wandering star on the evening of 14 October, despite the adverse weather conditions and its angular proximity to the Sun, which made observation difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The comet, which was 72 million kilometres away from the Earth at that time, was clearly visible to the naked eye, as it had a magnitude similar to Deneb, one of the brightest stars. It showed off its majesty: the coma (the dust envelope surrounding the nucleus) was about the size of the Moon and the tail extended about 20\u00b0 in length across the sky (the equivalent of joining about 40 moons in a row). A multitude of photographs of the comet have filled social media over the past few days.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” link_font=”|700|||on||||” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n <\/span>Faced with this astronomical event of the first magnitude, two IEEC astrophysicists programmed an observational project with the Joan Or\u00f3 robotic telescope located at the OdM. <\/span>Josep M. Trigo<\/b>, IEEC researcher at the\u00a0<\/span>Institute of Space Sciences<\/span><\/a> (ICE-CSIC), and <\/span>Kike Herrero<\/b>, director of the OdM, wanted to find details of the comet’s coma with several image sequences made with multiple photometric filters. The impressive images obtained show the intense dust emission activity from the jets of sublimated gas generated from almost a dozen active regions.<\/span> [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n In the words of <\/span>Josep M. Trigo<\/b>: \u201cAlthough the actual nucleus of the comet is only about 3 km, too small and distant to be seen, its fragile and volatile nature means that close to the Sun it emits tons of gas and dust per second, making it a very extended and bright object. Even so, so much dust shields the core and makes it difficult to study. You have to do some detective work in the inner coma, an environment that is quite bright because it is rich in dust emitted from the nucleus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Comets are aggregates of ice, organic matter and tiny mineral grains. These particles (from centimetres to millimetres) are fragile, break away driven by the gas and also fragment when exposed to sunlight. This produces dust that, when it reaches micrometre size, is able to reflect sunlight.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe inner coma, therefore, becomes a diffuse environment that cannot be resolved with small telescopes,\u201d explains <\/span>Kike Herrero<\/b>. \u201cDespite the challenge, telescopes with larger diameters, such as the Joan Or\u00f3 Telescope, allow us to resolve spiral structures inside the coma,\u201d added the expert. These jets of gas and dust bend under the radiation pressure from the Sun and generate intricate structures. From these images, researchers have to extract valuable information about the active regions of the comet’s nucleus and its dust production.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.ieec.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Fig_2_C2023A3_Larson-Sekanina_scale.jpg” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||3px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_line_height=”1.1em” background_color=”rgba(64,111,218,0.15)” custom_margin=”-4px||||false|false” custom_padding=”30px|20px|30px|20px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Caption:<\/strong> Image of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in visible light treated with a Larson-Sekanina filter. At least eight gigantic jets of material emitted from the comet’s nucleus are visible. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.ieec.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Fig_3_C2023A3_Larson-Sekanina_scale.jpg” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||3px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_line_height=”1.1em” background_color=”rgba(64,111,218,0.15)” custom_margin=”-3px||||false|false” custom_padding=”30px|20px|30px|20px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Caption:<\/strong> Image of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in visible light treated with a Larson-Sekanina false-colour filter. It shows the complexity of the spiral structure of materials emitted from the comet’s nucleus. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n To visualise the turbulent environment of the inner coma, researchers apply several techniques to treat the images and make visible the jets of material emitted from the nucleus. A treatment with a so-called Larson-Sekanina filter shows the gigantic curtains of dust and gas that are released from the active regions by the sublimation of the ice and the pressure of the gas propelled into the interplanetary medium. Thus, we see how a comet near the Sun sublimates so much ice that it suddenly becomes a gigantic source of material because of its volatile nature. In fact, comets formed in regions far away from the Sun or other stars, at very low temperatures that have made them an amalgam of ices and small particles during the early phases of the formation of the Solar System.<\/span><\/p>\n The comet will still be accessible to the naked eye and binoculars for the next few nights but it will rapidly lose magnitude as it moves away at a relative velocity from the Earth of around 290 000 km\/h. The latest dynamical calculations indicate that this object will eventually be lost in interstellar space following a hyperbolic orbit after its encounter with the Sun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider color=”#406fda” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Enlla\u00e7os” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Cairo|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#406fda” text_font_size=”20px” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Links<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.1em” link_font=”|700|||on|||#1a1140|” link_text_color=”#1a1140″ link_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”20px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider color=”#406fda” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contactes” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Cairo|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#406fda” text_font_size=”20px” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Contacts<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”|||20px|false|false” border_width_left=”1px” border_color_left=”#406fda” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.1em” link_font=”|700|||on|||#1a1140|” link_text_color=”#1a1140″ link_line_height=”1.4em” header_4_font=”|700|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#1a1140″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Castelldefels, Barcelona [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”|||20px|false|false” border_width_left=”1px” border_color_left=”#406fda” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1em” link_font=”|700|||on||||” link_text_color=”#1a1140″ header_4_font=”|700|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#1a1140″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Castelldefels, Barcelona<\/p>\n Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(64,111,218,0.15)” global_module=”17324″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”20px|50px|20px|50px|true|true” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Sobre l’IEEC” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font_size=”25px” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” header_2_font_size_tablet=”23px” header_2_font_size_phone=”23px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||on||||||” link_font=”|700|||on||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC \u2014 Institut d\u2019Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) promotes and coordinates space research and technology development in Catalonia for the benefit of society. IEEC fosters collaborations both locally and worldwide and is an efficient agent of knowledge, innovation and technology transfer. As a result of more than 25 years of high-quality research, done in collaboration with major international organisations, IEEC ranks among the best international research centres, focusing on areas such as: astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science, and Earth Observation. IEEC\u2019s engineering division develops instrumentation for ground- and space-based projects, and has extensive experience in working with private or public organisations from the aerospace and other innovation sectors.<\/p>\n The IEEC is a non-profit public sector foundation that was established in February 1996. It has a Board of Trustees composed of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona (UAB), Universitat Polit\u00e8cnica de Catalunya \u00b7 BarcelonaTech (UPC), and the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). The IEEC is also a CERCA centre.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" IEEC researchers at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and the Montsec Observatory have carried out this observation with the Joan Or\u00f3 Telescope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"2880","footnotes":""},"categories":[111,74,98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlighted-news-small","category-news","category-science"],"yoast_head":"\n
Credits:<\/strong> TJO\/OdM.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Credits:<\/strong> TJO\/OdM.<\/span><\/p>\n
Credits:<\/strong> TJO\/OdM.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
IEEC Communication Office<\/h4>\n
E-mail: comunicacio@ieec.cat<\/a><\/p>\nLead Researcher at the IEEC<\/h4>\n
Josep M. Trigo-Rodr\u00edguez<\/h4>\n
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
E-mail: trigo@ieec.cat,<\/a> trigo@ice.csic.es<\/a><\/p>\nAbout the IEEC<\/h2>\n