A Note on the Phase Law and Light Curve of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)

Abstract: The light curve of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS peaked in mid-April 2024, which nearly coincided with a minimum phase angle of 2.9 deg. The question of a possible correlation between the two events has implications for the comet's overall performance. In this note I examine the light curve at times of equal phase angles to circumvent the effect and show that the comet was as bright intrinsically in late March as it was in early May. From a plot of the comet's magnitude at unit geocentric distance against the phase angle before and after its minimum on 18 April I derive a very steep phase law and a relatively flat, r^-2.55 light curve failing to fit the recently reported magnitudes. After stalling in May and June, the comet's activity enters another surge (at a time of peak phase effect), as fragmentation continues.