The “Great Comet of 2025,” C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), streaked across Earth's skies in January. It won't appear again for hundreds of thousands of years. (Photo credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/C. Briceño)
What is it: Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
Where is it: In the night sky above Chile, somewhere in the inner solar system.
When published: February 12, 2025
Why it's so unique: Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), dubbed the “Great Comet of 2025,” is currently the brightest comet expected to be visible from Earth all year. It was discovered on April 5, 2024, by the Atlas Impact Warning System (ATLAS) and is a non-periodic comet, whose orbit will not return it to the Sun for hundreds of thousands of years.
Comet C/2024 G3 reached perihelion, the closest point to the Sun in its orbit, on January 13, 2025. At that point, it was approximately 8 million miles (13 million kilometers) from the Sun, within the orbit of Mercury. It peaked at magnitude -3.8 that day, according to the Comet Observations Database (COBS). (In astronomy, a lower magnitude equates to a brighter object. For comparison, Venus, currently visible at night in an ongoing “planet parade,” is currently at magnitude -4.8, according to theskylive.com.) Observers in the Southern Hemisphere were able to see the Great Comet before and after perihelion, while Northern Hemisphere observers were only able to see it in daylight near perihelion.
After perihelion, the comet began to show signs of disintegration, but still put on a mesmerizing show of bright tails. As it moves toward the edge of the solar system, it will gradually fade. And if the comet's remnants survive, it is expected to become visible from Earth again in about 600,000 years, according to long-term orbital calculations by JPL's Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Recently, according to COBS data, the comet's brightness has decreased to above magnitude 8, which is considered extremely faint.
Another shot of comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), taken over the mountains of Chile at dusk.
This stunning photograph shows a unique comet visible over Andacollo, Chile, on January 24, 2025. The comet was beautifully captured by Cesar Briceño, director of the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope. Briceño used a
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