Astronomy
These are the best places from the USA to see comet C/2024 G3, a historic landmark you can’t miss
A comet will pass near the Earth early this year, and it promises to be an impressive sight for sky-watchers. Here’s more on the coming celestial event.

After a host of celestial treats the past year, fans of astronomy will be treated to yet another heavenly phenomenon in 2025, as a particular comet will be passing close to the sun for the first time in 160,000 years.
Comet Atlas C/2024 G3 will reach perihelion, the point of orbit closest to the sun, coming to just within 8.4 million miles of it on Jan. 13, 2025.
To give you an idea of its relative proximity, Mercury, the planet nearest to the sun, orbits the center of the solar system from 29.2 million miles away.
The comet will also reach its closest point to Earth on Jan. 13. This makes it likely to be the brightest comet of 2025, a year in which astronomers do not expect other comets to be visible to the naked eye.
READ ALSO: How to see the January Wolf Moon
Scientists ask sky gazers to temper expectations
For all the excitement generated by the coming comet, sky-gazers should brace themselves for the possibility of being disappointed.
Comet C/2024 G3 is considered dynamically old, and could break apart when it is heated by the sun as it approaches.
READ ALSO: This is when Los Angeles, California can expect rain according to the Farmers Almanac
Will the C/2024 G3 ATLAS comet be visible to the naked eye?
If C/2024 G3 does manage to hold itself together on its journey, the comet might be visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere after perihelion. However, a person may need binoculars or a telescope because of the light interference from the moon.
Under ideal conditions, the comet could glow as brightly as the planet Venus at its most brilliant.
Those in the Northern Hemisphere will not be as lucky. It will be hard to see it in this area, because the comet will appear very low in the sky just before sunrise or after sunset, and the sun’s light will likely drown it out.
If you want to follow the comet’s progress, you can check out the images at the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or the Comet Observation Database.
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