C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
< C
Comet ATLAS photographed from the Paranal Observatory on 25 January 2025 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Tyler Linder |
| Discovery site | ATLAS–CHL (W68) |
| Discovery date | 5 April 2024 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | Present: 16 June 2024 (JD 2460477.5) Inbound: 1 January 1800 (JD 2378496.5) Outbound: 1 January 2200 (JD 2524593.5) |
| Observation arc | 267 days |
| Number of observations | 294 |
| Aphelion | 6,391 AU (Inbound) 14,234 AU (Outbound) |
| Perihelion | 0.093 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 3,196 AU (Inbound) 7,117 AU (Outbound) |
| Eccentricity | 0.999970 (Inbound) 1.000013 (Present) 0.999987 (Outbound) |
| Orbital period | ≈180,000 years (Inbound) ≈600,000 years (Outbound) |
| Inclination | 116.851° |
| 220.331° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 108.125° |
| Mean anomaly | –0.0003° |
| Last perihelion | 13 January 2025 |
| Earth MOID | 0.483 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.837 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 7.6 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 12.4 |
| –3.8 (2025 apparition) | |
C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is a partially disintegrated non-periodic comet, which reached perihelion on 13 January 2025, at a distance of 0.09 AU (13 million km) from the Sun. Dubbed the Great Comet of 2025, it is currently the brightest comet of 2025, with an apparent magnitude reaching −3.8 on the day of its perihelion. The comet was visible in the southern hemisphere before and after perihelion. It was only observed in the daytime sky around perihelion in the northern hemisphere.