Comet ATLAS hit a maximum magnitude of -3.4 during its close encounter with the sun, just shy of the brightness of Venus in the night sky.

January 13, 2025, as Comet G3 ATLAS (C/2024) reaches its peak brightness. This once-in-a-lifetime spectacle marks the comet's closest approach to the Sun, bringing it within 8.7 million miles of the Sun at its perihelion.

Comet G3 ATLAS is set to shine at its brightest this week, potentially outshining Venus and Jupiter. G3 ATLASs orbit is so big that it takes roughly 160,000 year to go around the Sun. As it approaches perihelion on January 13,

A rare celestial event will take place tonight as Comet G3 ATLAS (C/2024) reaches its peak brightness tonight. The comet was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile, on April 5, 2024.

When comet G3 reached its closest point to the sun, it flared up to an impressive magnitude of -3.4 — significantly brighter than Jupiter, which shines at a maximum magnitude of -2.8. This makes it one of the brightest comets witnessed in almost two decades.

Comet G3 ATLAS (C/2024) is expected to reach its maximum brightness tomorrow. The celestial phenomenon may even outshine the planets Venus and Jupiter. The comet was first spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey in Chile on April 5, 2024. It was at magnitude +19 then and hard to spot due to its faintness.

Comet G3 ATLAS (C/2024) will reach its brightest on January 13, 2025, potentially outshining Venus and Jupiter. Detected in April 2024, its perihelion

Skies over South Carolina kick off 2025 with a planet parade, ancient comet and the muse of "Beyond Antares," a 23rd-century love song from "Star Trek" fame.

Astronomer Dean Regas gives us the lowdown on the best things to look out for this winter, from a “planet parade” to the ATLAS comet.

The best events these next two weeks are Venus attaining its highest sunset or nightfall elevation, Mars coming its closest to Gemini's brightest star, Jupiter coming its closest to Taurus' brightest star and Venus having its closest pairing with the moon for all of 2025.

Because the period of an object does not depend on its mass, comets’ orbital periods remain unchanged due to mass loss.

Six planets grace the sky this month in what's known as a planetary parade, and most can be seen with the naked eye