A bright comet can be seen in the sky for the first time in 160,000 years, making it a true once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
It will be one of the brightest comets to pass Earth in 20 years.
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The space rock, officially known as G3 ATLAS (C/2024), reached peak brightness on January 13.
It will maintain this glow over the coming days, as experts say it can be seen with the naked eye.
It could shine as bright as Venus, or similar to Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas/Comet C/2023 A3, the “comet of the century” that stunned stargazers in mid-October.
The last time comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) passed Earth, humans were beginning to spread across the globe after leaving Africa.
It was first spotted by the Asteroid Impact Terrestrial Last Alert System (ATLAS) on April 5 last year, when it was 407 million miles from Earth.
The comet is now about 87 million miles from Earth, and slowly getting closer every second.
Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) is known as a “sungrazer” comet, meaning its orbital journey brings it incredibly close to the Sun.
Current calculations indicate that it will pass a distance of 8.3 million miles over the scorching surface of the Sun.
Often, small sungrazer comets are unable to get past the blazing flames of the nearest star to Earth.
Like Comet Halloween/C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), for example, which flew too close to the Sun and burned up before stargazers had a chance to see it.
However, scientists remain optimistic about the prospects for comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS).
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is a very old comet, and scientists believe it last passed by Earth 160,000 years ago.
What is the difference between an asteroid, meteorite and comet?
Here's what you need to know, according to NASA…
- asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but can be found anywhere (including a path that could impact Earth).
- meteor: When two asteroids collide with each other, the small pieces that break off are called meteoroids
- meteor: If a meteorite enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to evaporate and then turns into a meteorite. On Earth, it would look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning
- meteor: If the meteorite does not completely vaporize and continues its journey through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on Earth. At that point, it turns into a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. But instead of being made up mostly of rock, a comet contains a lot of ice and gas, which could cause spectacular tails to form behind it (thanks to the evaporation of ice and dust).
This means that it has already passed by the sun at least once during its life and survived.
In theory, this could mean that G3 ATLAS could handle at least one more close encounter with the Sun.
While the exact locations of the potential sighting are unknown, experts believe it is best observed from the Southern Hemisphere.
For the Northern Hemisphere, including the United Kingdom and the United States, viewing may be difficult due to the comet's proximity to the Sun.
“As with all comets, their visibility and brightness can be difficult to predict,” said Dr. Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King's College London.
“Observers may have opportunities to spot it on days around perihelion, depending on local conditions and comet behavior.”
He added that viewing opportunities are “highly uncertain” and that many comets end up being fainter than expected.
On Saturday, NASA astronaut Don Pettit published a photo he took of the comet from the International Space Station on the surface of Moon X.
“It is absolutely amazing to see a comet from orbit. Atlas C2024-G3 is paying us a visit,” he wrote.
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