Astronauts capture astonishing photos of comet plunging to Earth

By Dean Murray via SWNS

Astronauts worked together to get these jaw-dropping pictures of a comet plunging to Earth.

Don Pettit, NASA’s oldest active astronaut at 69, and Matthew Dominick, 42, used complex math and software to time the shots from the International Space Station.

Matthew Dominick said on Sunday (22 Sep): "I convinced Don Pettit to stay awake for one more orbital sunrise to try and see the comet for the first time. I’m glad he did as we got to see it together for the first time from the cupola. We had failed to see it on previous attempts."

Don Pettit said: "It is totally awesome to see a comet from orbit. The perspective of rising through the atmosphere on edge is truly unique from our vantage point. The comet tail is still too dim to see with your eyes, but it is heading towards the sun and growing brighter every day.

"This comet is known as C2023-A3 or Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. Matthew Dominick used math (go figure) and our orbital geometry to figure out where to point our cameras and was the first to get a good photo.

"Using Matthew’s technique, I will photograph every day to see what develops in the tail structure. Currently, there appears to be a forward-directed “tail” that I am not certain is real or an artifact from shooting through 4 window panes. Time will tell if this structure brightens. Stay tuned."