Once-in-a-lifetime ‘sungrazer’ comet set to pass Earth today – it won’t be visible for another 160,000 years
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A BRIGHT comet could be visible in the sky for the first time in 160,000 years - making it a real once-in-a-lifetime display. It will be one of the brightest comets to pass Earth in 20 years. The space rock, formally known as G3 ATLAS (C/2024), reached peak brightness on 13 January.
![[a couple standing on top of a hill under a starry night sky]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/0723384a-8685-4f80-b60a-9b783ba1398c.jpg?strip=all&w=852)
It will maintain that glow over the coming days, when experts say it could be visible to the naked eye. It could shine as bright as Venus, or similar to Tsuchinshan-ATLAS/ Comet C/2023 A3, the "comet of the century" that stunned stargazers in mid-October.
![[Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) seen from space.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/remain-bright-enough-seen-naked-963678804_42af0d.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The last time Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) passed Earth, humans were beginning to spread across the world after leaving Africa. It was first spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on 5 April last year - when it was 407 million miles away from Earth.
The comet is now around 87 million miles away from Earth - and inching closer by the second. Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) is known as a 'sungrazer' comet, meaning its orbital journey takes it incredibly close to the Sun. Current calculations suggest it will pass within 8.3million miles on the Sun's scorching surface.
Small 'sungrazer' comets often don't make it past the burning blaze of Earth's closest star. Like the 'Halloween Comet' / C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) for example, which flew too close to the Sun and burnt up before stargazers got a chance to see it. Scientists, however, remain hopeful of comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas)'s prospects.
