There aren’t many comets that are visible to observers without binoculars or telescopes. But one may be coming, and coming soon.
Dubbed the "New Years Comet" for its imminent arrival, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is currently traveling closer and closer to the center of our Solar System, and is set to come closest on Monday, January 13, 2025. The comet will theoretically be brightest to observers on and around that date, with the best chances of catching it being in the Southern Hemisphere.
A Southern Spectacle
Observed for the first time in April 2024, the comet will come within its closest proximity to the Sun and Earth on Monday, January 13, 2025, when it will travel within 8.3 million miles of the Sun and 8.7 million miles of Earth. That’s so close that the comet may appear brighter than the stars. In fact, the comet’s perihelion, or its closest proximity to the Sun in its orbit, is three times closer than Mercury’s.
