Here’s how to see a once-in-a-160,000-year comet next week
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Here’s something that you’ll kick yourself if you miss – a comet that only grazes the Earth every 160,000 years will be visible next week. Comet G3 ATLAS (C/2024) was first spotted in April 400 million miles away when it was 158,000 times dimmer than the faintest star.
![[Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) (L) is barely seen at dawn from Montevideo on January 8, 2025. Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is a long-period, sun-grazing comet, which will reach perihelion -its closest point to the sun- on January 13, 2025. If it survives its pass nearest to the sun, it will have its closest approach to Earth on January 14. (Photo by Mariana SUAREZ / AFP) (Photo by MARIANA SUAREZ/AFP via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235527736-b172.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
But by Monday, astronomers expect the comet to be so vibrant it could rival the brightness of Venus in the night sky. The comet will reach peak perihelion – when it is closest to the sun – on Monday before returning to the darkest depths of the cosmos.
![[Mandatory Credit: Photo by Carlos de Saa/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (14814592b) Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is seen crossing the sky over Tindaya Mountain in La Oliva town, Fuerteventura, Spain, 23 October 2024 (issued 24 October 2024). Comet C/2023 A3 Atlas Tsunchinshan crosses the sky over Fuerteventura, Spain - 23 Oct 2024]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235527942-0461.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
As you read this, the comet is around 151,800,000 kilometres from Earth, according to the observational tool TheSkyLive, and is getting closer by the second. Like all comets, G3 ATLAS is basically one big dirty snowball. Made of the icy leftovers from when the solar system first formed, it begins to melt as it approaches our star, causing it to grow a wispy tail.
G3 ATLAS is no stranger to Earth. Scientists believe that it has at least once before made the trip from its home a trillion miles away, the icy bubble around our solar system called the Oort Cloud, to the sun. This means that unlike some comets, which melt altogether when passing a searing hot star, G3 ATLAS may survive to soar another day.
To give some perspective on its 160,000-year-long orbit, Neptune, the planet furthest away from the sun, takes 165 years to do a solar lap. Pluto, meanwhile, takes 248 years. The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) discovered the comet on April 5.
