Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) in the Chilean Skies

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is captured here in all its beauty by Cesar Briceño, Director of the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR), a part of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Comets form from a nucleus of dust, water, and gas in the farthest-known regions of our Solar System. This close-up of the Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) cleanly shows the vaporized material of the nucleus creating the iconic cometary shape. In the lower left corner, the diffuse coma shines bright white as it obscures the nucleus. Emanating from the nucleus are the twin tails. The upper stream is the dust tail made of the heavier dust particles, illuminated by reflected sunlight. The lower stream is composed of gases, glowing as a result of ionization of the gas atoms. This tail is affected by the Sun’s magnetic field, and so is pointing in the direction of the solar wind.

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) may be one of the brightest comets to pass by Earth in 2025, which made it an easily observable object for those lucky enough to see it. Briceño also photographed the comet against the morning sky and another photographer, Carlos Corco, captured a complementary view of the comet against the landscape of the Andean foothills.