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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

‘stronomy rocks!

Long camera exposures are now capturing C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), sometimes abbreviated as just A3, and its dust tail before and during sunrise. The featured image composite was taken four days ago and captured the comet as it rose above Lake George, NSW, Australia. Vertical bands further left are images of the comet as the rising Sun made the predawn sky increasingly bright and colorful. Just how bright the comet will become over the next month is currently unknown...

Remember, "October is inventory time..."

A3 is the pound sign:

£
Etymology
From the first letter of Latin lībra (“pound”). The symbol is derived from the mediaeval tradition of placing a stroke over a letter or letters of a word (in this case L) to indicate an abbreviation; when letters have ascenders like L, the stroke frequently passes through that ascender. £ is thus cognate with the pound sign #, which was similarly derived from lb with a stroke through the ascenders.

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I never know what prizes I'll win for playing. Today's observation is the meaning of "Tsuchinshan":

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The Purple Mountain Observatory (Chinese: 紫金山天文台; pinyin: Zǐjīnshān Tiānwéntái), also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing.[a]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Mountain_Observatory

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Purple Mountain or Zijin Shan (Chinese: 紫金山; pinyin: Zǐjīn Shān; lit. 'Purple-Gold Mountain') is located on the eastern side of Nanjing in Jiangsu province, China. It is 448.2 metres (1,470 ft)[1] high. Its peaks are often found enveloped in purple and golden clouds at dawn and dusk, hence its name.

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Purple and gold? Inspiring!

Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem...

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_the_Beautiful#History

ATLAS

I just love exploring maps. Here's the word "map" in Hebrew: מפה

I can't wait until everyone loves the word "מפה" as much as I do. "מפה" is the very Temple-building word, from here, from "'85" [מ פ"ה]. (Ezekiel 40)

"The etymology of the name Atlas is uncertain." (Wiki)

Seems to me that if Astronomy can lose its A at the head, then Atlas could have easily lost a t from his tail. (A world of hurt.)

Long camera exposures are now capturing... A3, and its dust tail before and during sunrise.

🎨

I just got my Dwarf3 telescope/camera and of course we have a tropical storm. Maybe next week before we have a clear night.