Comet G3 Atlas in January 2025: How to See C/2024 G3 (Atlas)
Catch it if you can! Potentially the best comet of 2025, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), successfully passed its closest point to the Sun on January 13, and you still have a few days to see it. Some observers have already spotted it with the naked eye! Try to find it yourself using the Sky Tonight app. But there are some challenges with this comet; read on to learn how to catch Comet G3 (ATLAS).
Contents
- Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS): General info
- When and how to observe C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
- Discovery of C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
- Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS): Bottom line
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS): General info
- Type: non-periodic comet
- Orbital period: unknown
- Perihelion: January 13, 2025
- Closest approach to Earth: January 13, 2025
- Maximum brightness: -3.4
- Best visible from: Southern Hemisphere
When and how to observe C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
Comet C/2024 G3 reached its closest point to the Sun on January 13, 2025 and (surprisingly) survived perihelion. At that moment, it was four times closer to the Sun than Mercury (0.094 AU) and brightened up to magnitude -3.4 — much brighter than the best comet of 2024, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) (peak magnitude 0.4).
Now, the comet is visible from both hemispheres, rising above the horizon in the evening, shortly after sunset. Try to see Comet C/2024 G3 in the next few days, until about January 18; hurry up — it will lose brightness quickly.
For most observers, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) did not become as spectacular as C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the fall of 2024. Here is why:
- C/2024 G3 was positioned too close to the Sun and therefore hard to observe. At perihelion, it had a solar elongation of only about 5 degrees.
- C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was very difficult to observe from the Northern Hemisphere due to its low position in the sky. The Southern Hemisphere got the best view (before and at perihelion). Now that the comet has survived, it's moving further away from the Sun, but it's also getting fainter by the day.
- C/2024 G3 did not become bright enough to be easily observed with the naked eye in daylight. A diffuse object like a comet must have a magnitude of about -7 to be visible during the day; C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) reached "only" a magnitude of -3.4 and could only be seen on a daytime sky with special observing equipment.
C/2024 G3 is not available for naked-eye viewing by most astronomy enthusiasts. However, experienced astrophotographers have captured many exciting images of this comet, and we're likely to get many more impressive images of Comet G3 from astrophotographers in the coming days! It is also an excellent target for images taken beyond the Earth's atmosphere, such as from the ISS or observatories like SOHO.
Is Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) visible now?
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is currently visible in the evening sky from the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The comet is very bright, but it’s extremely close to the Sun. To spot it, you’ll need binoculars and clear skies. In the following days, the comet will get farther from the Sun in our sky but its brightness will decrease quickly.
Use Sky Tonight for easy comet tracking. Just type “C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)” in the search bar, tap the target icon next to the result, and you’ll see the comet’s location on the map. Adjust the Time Machine slider to see how its position changes over the months.
⚠️Warning: Be extremely careful when observing objects near the Sun. Never look directly at the Sun, with or without optics — this can cause serious eye damage or blindness.
Observations of Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
Observers in the Southern Hemisphere have been reporting C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) since early 2025, mostly spotting it with binoculars (8×42 or 7×50). However, some observers caught the comet with the naked eye. Meanwhile, enthusiasts in the Northern Hemisphere have also photographed Comet G3, including from Zacatecas, Mexico (23° N) on January 5, 2025.
Chris Schur did an incredible job capturing Comet C/2024 G3 in daylight on January 12, 2025. Here is his post:
C/2024 G3 Atlas from Arizona at near noon daytime. <...> The comet was 5 degrees from the Sun, and I used a special baffle tube system to block the Sun from entering the tube. The nucleus of the comet is singular, stellar and not breaking up as far as I can see.
Will Comet G3 ATLAS disintegrate soon?
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is a perihelion survivor, even though we had little faith in it!
There were even reports suggesting that the comet's nucleus broke up into fragments just before perihelion, but as you can see on images from SOHO, Comet G3 is alive and well.
By the way, in the SOHO images, we can see that Comet G3 (ATLAS) has grown some “whiskers”, making it look even more like a cat.
“Comets are like cats: they have tails, and they do precisely what they want.”
― David H. Levy, Comets: Creators and Destroyers.
On January 11, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) entered the field of view of the SOHO solar observatory, allowing us to watch the comet in real time. In some SOHO images, you can see “whiskers” — bright horizontal streaks near the comet's head (known as blooming) that indicate its high brightness.
How much do you know about comets? Feel free to test your knowledge of the brightest comets in history.
Discovery of C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was discovered on April 5, 2024, by the ATLAS astronomical survey. It was first thought to be a dynamically new comet — an object that enters the inner Solar System for the first time. Such comets have a higher risk of disintegrating during their first perihelion. However, the updated orbital elements suggest that C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) may approach the Sun not for the first time. If so, the chances of its survival increase significantly.
The name of the comet contains data about its type, date of discovery, and discoverer:
- The letter “C” denotes a non-periodic comet. Such comets either pass through the Solar System only once or take more than 200 years to complete an orbit around the Sun.
- The designation “2024 G3” indicates that the comet was discovered in the first half of April 2024 and was the third comet discovered during that period.
- “ATLAS” signifies that the discovery was made by the astronomical survey called Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
Want to know about other upcoming bright comets? Read our article!
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS): Bottom line
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) has already become a spectacular sight in January 2025 for some people, but it also faces big hurdles: a dangerously close pass by the Sun and difficult viewing angles for many observers. The next few days are your last chance to see C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) before it is lost in space for hundreds of years. Use the Sky Tonight app to find Comet ATLAS in your sky.
