Once-in-lifetime comet to cross Earth for first time in 80,000 YEARS

It was last witnessed by some of the first humans to venture out of Africa 80,000 years ago. 

Now, comet C/2023 A3 – also known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS – is finally making its return journey to Earth. 

The comet, which will look like a faint star-like blob with a hazy tail, should be viewable just before dawn on four consecutive mornings, from Friday to Monday.

Comet C/2023 A3 was only discovered early last year, but based on its orbital trajectory scientists estimate that it last passed Earth 80,000 years ago. 

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, who is currently aboard the International Space Station, posted a stunning clip of the comet from his unique vantage point.  

You can see the comet later this week by looking for the moon, which is in its waning crescent phase. The position of the comet varies in relation to the moon depending on the date

The comet not seen by humans for 80,000 years is described as looking like ‘a fuzzy star with a misty tail’. It’s pictured here (top right) in this stunning snap, posted as NASA’s ‘Astronomy Picture of the Day’ on Monday

The eight-second time-lapse video clip shows the celestial object from the space station’s cupola windows. 

‘This comet is going to make for some really cool images as it gets closer to the sun,’ Dominick said in his X post. 

Stuart Atkinson, a space enthusiast and amateur astronomer based in Cumbria, said the comet will look like ‘a fuzzy star with a misty tail’. 

‘It will be beneath the moon, very low in the east,’ he said in an X post. 

Although it should be seen with the naked eye on both hemispheres, there’s no harm having a pair of binoculars handy to increase visibility.  

According to The Sky Live, comet C/2023 A3 is 157.1 million miles away from Earth, as of 12:00 BST Tuesday. 

It is getting closer to us all the time, travelling at about 70km per second (150,000 miles per hour). 

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, who is currently aboard the International Space Station, posted a stunning clip of the comet from his unique vantage point

C/2023 A3 was first documented only last year by telescopes in South Africa, Chile and Hawaii as it came closer and closer to Earth 

It will reach ‘perihelion’ – its closest point to the sun in its 80,000 year orbit – on Friday, September 27.

Perihelion is when a comet is at its brightest and therefore most visible for Earthlings.

The comet should also be visible on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings, although its position in relation to the moon will change slightly. 

The best time to see it on these days is around 40 minutes before dawn, when it’s yet to be obscured by the sun’s glare.  

In the UK, 40 minutes before dawn is around 06:15 BST, meaning some morning commuters will get a chance to see it before leaving for work.   

Comets, nicknamed ‘dirty snowballs’ by astronomers, are balls of ice, dust and rocks that typically come from the ring of icy material called the Oort cloud at our solar system’s outer edge.

Images of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) obtained on 2023-02-24 at remote telescopes by amateur astronomer

Comets are large objects made of dust and ice that orbit the sun. NASA describes them as ‘leftovers’ from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago (artist’s depiction) 

Surrounding a comet is a thin, gassy atmosphere filled with more ice and dust called a coma.

As they approach the sun, comets melt, releasing a stream of gas and dust blown from their surface by solar radiation and plasma and forming a cloudy, outward-facing tail.

Comets move toward the inner solar system when various gravitational forces dislodge them from the Oort cloud, becoming more visible as they venture closer to the sun’s heat.

And fewer than a dozen comets are discovered each year by observatories worldwide.

Starwalk, an astronomical app for stargazing, describes comet C/2023 A3 as ‘most anticipated comet of the year’. 

At the end of November, another comet, called 333P/LINEAR, should be visible with large binoculars or a small telescope. 

But it only has an orbital period of eight years – barely anything compared with comet C/2023 A3, which is truly a once-in-a-lifetime sight.