The brightest comet in recent years may be about to appear, but that doesn’t necessarily excite astronomers. C/2024 G3 (ATLAS). Discovered last April thanks to the ATLAS early warning system, comet C/2024 G3 will reach perihelion on January 13, 2025. In other words, it will approach the Sun and gain brightness until Monday.
Astronomers estimate that it could reach a magnitude of -4. It would thus be brighter than C/2023 A3, the “comet of the century”, which reached a magnitude of 0.22 last fall. But his approach as close as possible to the star is double-edged.
Two possibilities
As C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) warms and gains brightness, it could become bright enough to be visible even during the dayespecially from the southern hemisphere.
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However, on Monday, it will pass less than 14 million kilometers from the Sun (a very close distance, compared to the 150 million kilometers that separate it from Earth). The temperature could cause the comet to disintegrate.
There is hope
The astronomers who discovered it initially thought that C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was a dynamically new comet, an object that was visiting the inner solar system for the first time.
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However, subsequent orbital studies suggest that this is not the first time the comet has approached the Sun. If so, the chances of her surviving increase significantlybecause she would have already done so in the past.
But let’s not have too many illusions
Surviving the heat of the Sun is not the only condition necessary for C/2024 G3 to become one of the most spectacular comets of recent years. The best time to see the comet will be Monday, around its perihelion, but on that day the Moon will be full.
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What about the setting times of the Moon? The comet’s position close to the Sun (only 5 degrees of solar elongation) will also complicate its observation due to light pollution from the star in the sky.
Article written in collaboration with our colleagues from Xataka.
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