Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS at Twilight over Paranal Observatory in Chile

Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS at Twilight over Paranal Observatory in Chile

Astrophotographer Yuri Beletsky: "Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) - A View from an Observatory 😃 I took this image at the ESO Paranal Observatory on January 19th. The comet is setting in the twilight next to one of the auxiliary telescopes (AT). This time, I used a 70mm lens to capture the whole scene. I hope you enjoy the view! 👍"

Twilight = "The soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, caused by the refraction and scattering of the sun's rays from the atmosphere."

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is a non-periodic comet. It reached perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on January 13, 2025, at a distance of 0.09 AU (13 million km) from the Sun. It is potentially the brightest comet of 2025, with an apparent magnitude reaching −3.8 on the day of its perihelion. The comet is visible in the southern hemisphere before and after perihelion. 

Comet C/2024 G3 was found by the automated Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on April 5, 2024, in images obtained with a 0.5-m reflector telescope located in Río Hurtado, Chile. ATLAS is funded by NASA's planetary defense office, and developed and operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy.

Image Credit: Yuri Beletsky
Yuri's website: 

https://www.instagram.com/yuribeletsky/
Image Date: Jan. 19, 2025 

Location: European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory, Chile, South America

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #Comets #Comet #CometC2024G3ATLAS #C2024G3 #Twilight #OortCloud #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #Astrophotographer #YuriBeletsky #ParanalObservatory #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #STEM #Education