Comet ATLAS (C/2024 G3) came within 8.3 million miles of the sun on January 13 as it reached its perihelion, and is now disintegrating.

The ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has officially discovered 5000 comets. Comet number 5000 was spotted in SOHO images. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Producer: Lacey Young (MORI Associates) Editor: Lacey Young (MORI Associates) Videographer: Joy Ng (National Institute of Aerospace) Advisor: Beth Anthony (MORI Associates) Scientist: Karl Battams (U.

This comet, named ATLAS after the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System that discovered it, reached an extraordinary brightness. It shone as brightly as Venus, making it visible to the naked eye first in the northern hemisphere until mid January then in the south afterwards.

G3 (ATLAS) showed off its spectacular tail plumage to NASA spacecraft when it flew close to the sun this month.

A once-in-a-lifetime comet is approaching the sun — and it will be visible for the first time in 160,000 years. The comet will also be at its closest point to the Earth and might become the brightest comet of the year during a year when no other comets are set to be visible to the naked eye.

In the photo from the space station, the comet is captured just above Earth’s horizon, which is illuminated by a bright light — also known as airglow — that occurs in the planet’s upper atmosphere when atoms and molecules emit light after being excited by sunlight.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit has snapped a striking shot of the super-bright comet racing past our planet for the first time in 160,000 years, as it lit up the night skies across the globe.

G3 (ATLAS) is now visible in the post-sunset night sky. It's best seen in the Southern Hemisphere, but it's visible north of the equator if you know where to look.

G3 may be hard to see due to weather patterns and the California wildfires, said Tim Brothers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A bright comet could be visible in skies across the globe over the coming days for the first time in 160,000 years. Nasa said the future brightness of a comet is "notoriously hard" to predict, but that Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) could remain bright enough to be seen by the naked eye.

A guide on how to see Comet C/2024 G3 from Texas this week before it dims and disappears for the next 160,000 years.

From Jan. 11 to 15, 2025, a bright comet surged through images from the ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft. Called C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), the comet made its closest pass to the sun,