Comets 2024-2025: Next Comet Visible from Earth

If you’ve always wanted to see a comet, now is a great time! Two comets might become visible through binoculars or even with the naked eye in late 2024 and early 2025. Our Sky Tonight app will help you easily find any comet in the sky in your specific location. Let’s see what the heavens have in store for us!

Contents

• 333P/LINEAR
• C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) ⭐
• 210P/Christensen
• 24P/Schaumasse
• C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos)
• How to find a comet using Sky Tonight?
• Next comet visible from Earth: Bottom line

333P/LINEAR

• Perihelion: November 29, 2024 (mag 9.8)
• Closest approach to Earth: December 9, 2024 (mag 10)
• Where to observe: Both hemispheres
• Visibility forecast: In November 2024, the comet might become visible through large binoculars or a small telescope.
• Description: 333P/LINEAR is a Jupiter family periodic comet discovered by the LINEAR project in 2007. The comet has a retrograde orbit and an orbital period of 8.7 years.

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) ⭐

• Perihelion: January 13, 2025 (mag -2.0)
• Closest approach to Earth: January 13, 2025 (mag -1.8)
• Where to observe: Both hemispheres
• Visibility forecast: If we’re lucky, Comet C/2024 G3 might become visible to the naked eye, even in the daytime, by January 2025. However, it also might not survive perihelion and, even if it does, will be positioned quite close to the Sun in the sky. Read our article to learn more about this comet.
• Description: Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was discovered on April 5, 2024, by the ATLAS astronomical survey. Judging by its orbit, it might be a dynamically new comet, which means it enters the inner Solar System for the first time.

210P/Christensen

• Perihelion: November 22, 2025 (mag 8.3)
• Closest approach to Earth: November 8, 2025 (mag 8.1)
• Where to observe: Northern Hemisphere
• Visibility forecast: In November 2025, Comet Christensen might become visible through large binoculars.
• Description: 210P/Christensen is a Jupiter family periodic comet discovered by American astronomer Eric Christensen on May 26, 2003, in images taken by the Catalina Sky Survey. The comet has an orbital period of 5.7 years. Its nucleus is about 1.7 km (1.06 miles) in diameter.

24P/Schaumasse

• Perihelion: January 8, 2026 (mag 8.5)
• Closest approach to Earth: January 4, 2026 (mag 8.5)
• Where to observe: Both hemispheres
• Visibility forecast: Comet Schaumasse will reach its brightest in early 2026 and might become visible with large binoculars. Before that, from November 8 to 11, 2025, the comet will be passing close to the famous Beehive Cluster (M44) in the sky, providing a good photo opportunity.
• Description: Comet 24/P Schaumasse is a periodic comet discovered by French astronomer Alexandre Schaumasse on 1 December 1911 in Nice, France. It has an orbital period of 8.18 years. The comet nucleus is estimated to be 2.6 km (1.6 miles) in diameter.

C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos)

• Perihelion: January 20, 2026 (mag 5.2)
• Closest approach to Earth: Feb 17, 2026 (mag 6.2)
• Where to observe: Northern Hemisphere (before perihelion), Southern Hemisphere (after perihelion)
• Visibility forecast: In the autumn of 2025, the comet may become visible through small telescopes or large binoculars for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Then, as the comet moves toward perihelion, it will be positioned too close to the Sun to be observable. After perihelion, it will be best observable from the Southern Hemisphere and might be visible with binoculars.
• Description: Comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchos was discovered by Polish astronomer Kacper Wierzchos on March 3, 2024, in images taken by the Mount Lemmon Survey. The comet’s orbital period is yet to be determined.

How to find a comet using Sky Tonight?

Comets are faint and fuzzy objects that are hard to detect, so it’s best to know their location for certain. The Sky Tonight app will help you quickly find any bright comet in the sky. Here’s what you need to do:

• Tap the magnifier icon at the lower part of the screen;
• In the Search field, enter the comet’s name or designation (for instance, “C/2024 G3”);
• Find the comet in the search results and tap the blue target icon next to its name;
• The app will show the comet’s current location in the sky;
• Point your device at the sky and follow the white arrow to find the comet.

You can also tap the comet’s name in the search results and then go to the Events tab to view the events related to the comet: perihelion and closest approach to Earth. Tap the blue target icon next to the event to see the comet’s location at the time of perihelion or closest approach.

Next comet visible from Earth: Bottom line

The next comet to reach perihelion is 333P/LINEAR, which may become visible through large binoculars in late November 2024. After that, we’ll be waiting for the promising comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) — in mid-January 2025, it may become visible even in the daytime sky! We’ll keep you updated on all the news about upcoming comets.

While working on this article, we used data provided by the Comet Observation database, TheSkyLive website, as well as by astronomers Gideon van Buitenen and Seiichi Yoshida.