It’s “one of the brightest comets in our lifetimes”, and only becomes visible every 80,000 years, so no wonder the science community is so excited about the upcoming celestial event.
Stargazers will have the chance to spot what could be the most impressive comet of the year for the next couple of weeks.
Comet A3, also known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, has come to be known as the “comet of the century” by excited astronomers, such is the anticipation about how bright and visible it might be.
People in the southern hemisphere have already had a glimpse of the comet, but, from Saturday as it comes to within approximately 44 million miles of Earth, it could also be seen in the northern hemisphere.
So what is Comet A3 and how likely are we to get a good view of it?
When was it discovered?
The comet was discovered independently in January 2023 by two observatories – China’s Tsuchinshan (Purple Mountain) Observatory and South Africa’s ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) – and was named after them.
Where is it from?
