Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS over Chile's Atacama Desert

Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS over Chile's Atacama Desert

Astrophotographer Daniele Gasparri: "The long tail of Comet ATLAS, set against the dark sky of the Atacama Desert, appears to fan out and stretch across several degrees. This image is the result of averaging 11 exposures of 30 seconds each, captured with a Sony A7s camera and a 105 mm lens stopped down to f/4.5."

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.

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. ATLAS was developed and is operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy.

Learn more:
https://fallingstar.com
https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-defense-overview/

Image Credit: Daniele Gasparri 

Daniele's website: https://www.danielegasparri.com
Image Date: Jan. 25, 2025

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