Rare comet could be visible for first time in 160,000 years

Rare comet  could be visible for first time in 160,000  years.
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Comet spotted from International Space Station  this weekend
A bright comet could be visible in  the world's skies  in the coming days for the first time in 160,000  years.
NASA said the future brightness of a comet is  "very difficult" to predict, but that  comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) could  be bright enough to be seen  with the naked  eye.
On Monday, the comet was at perihelion, the point at which it is closest to the Sun, which  affects its apparent brightness. Experts say it could be visible  as early as Monday  night.
Although the exact locations  of potential visibility are  not known, experts believe the comet, which could shine as  brightly as Venus,  could be best observed from the southern  hemisphere. The comet was spotted last year by  NASA's Asteroid  Impact Warning System.
Dr. Shyam Balaji,  a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King's College London, said  that "current orbital calculations  show that it will pass  within about  13.3 million  kilometers of the  Sun," which classifies it as a  "Sun-orbiting" comet. .
The university described the comet as  an event that occurs once every 160,000 years.
Dr. Balaji said  that the opportunity to  see the comet  could be "within a few days around perihelion, depending on local conditions and the  behavior of the comet."
"Like all comets, its visibility and brightness can be unpredictable," he  added. Balaji said people  living in the  Southern Hemisphere - where the comet is  expected to be best  seen - should "look  towards the eastern horizon before  dawn, [and] after perihelion, try the western horizon after  sunset".
But Balaji added that while it is expected to be  "fairly bright", predictions  of the comet's brightness are "notoriously uncertain", with many  turning out to be dimmer than  expected.
For the  Northern Hemisphere - including the UK - viewing may be  difficult due to the comet's  relative position to the  Sun.
You can check  the BBC  weather forecast online to see if the skies are clear enough for a possible sighting where you  are.
Balaji advised people wanting to  see the comet to find a  spot away from light pollution and use a pair of binoculars or a small  telescope.
He warned observers to be  careful at sunrise and  sunset and said to track the comet's position to  know where it  might appear in the  sky. Meanwhile, astronomers have been  tracking the comet's  trajectory.
On Saturday,  NASA astronaut Don  Pettit shared a  photo of the comet taken from the International Space  Station on social media.
"It's absolutely incredible to see a comet from orbit. Atlas C2024-G3 is  visiting us," he  wrote.
Source@Bosman 

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