How To See Brightest Comet Of 2025 Over CA This Week – Patch

CALIFORNIA — Skywatchers in California may have a few more chances to see what may be the brightest comet of the year before it disappears until many millennia into the future.Comet Atlas C/2024 G3 reached perihelion — its closest point to the sun — on Monday. If it is as bright as some astronomers expect, it could outshine Venus. The comet should be visible just after dusk low in the southwest sky. The coast is often cloudy and the cities are too bright, so your best bet is to head to a rural area inland, where light pollution is low and sunny, cloudless skies are predicted for the next few days.Binoculars or a telescope will provide the best views, and the comet will become dimmer with each passing night. Stargazers should find the darkest sky possible and, because the comet won’t get high in the sky, at a place with an unobstructed view of the horizon.Here’s what you need to know:Did Comet Atlas Survive Sun’s Heat? The comet’s close approach to Earth’s hot yellow star could be its demise. It could fragment or completely evaporate. Or, it could survive perihelion and come back around again until so far into the future that scientists can’t predict what civilization will look like.Early observations are that Comet G3 Atlas survived its close encounter with the sun and is continuing an approximate 160,000-year orbit, according to The Planetary Society New research suggests that Comet G3 ATLAS has likely “survived at least one close approach to the Sun before.”How Bright Is Comet Atlas?Astronomers use an ancient magnitude scale to measure how bright a star, planet, asteroid or other object — or in this case a comet — looks from Earth. Magnitudes are expressed as negative numbers when they are exceptionally bright.The lower the number, the brighter the object. For example, the brightest star in our solar system is 1st magnitude, the dimmest visible to the naked eye is 6th magnitude.But comets are “intrinsically highly unpredictable objects” with brightness dependent on multiple conditions, according to In The Sky. Some astronomers expect Comet Atlas to be the brightest in 20 years, with a magnitude of -3.2, which would make it as bright as Venus and Jupiter, which are prominent in the night sky during January. Another prediction calls for a magnitude around -4.5, which would rival Venus, while others say it will be so dim it won’t be distinguishable from the dimmest stars.Heed This WarningRemember those dire warnings ahead of 2024’s total solar eclipse not to look directly into the sun without certified solar eclipse eyewear? The same is true here. Despite multiple reports that Comet G3 Atlas may shine bright enough to be seen in the daytime, don’t go looking for it, experts say. It is so close to the sun at this point in its orbit that scanning the sky for it could cause permanent eye damage in the same way as unprotected eclipse viewing.It’s never safe to look directly at the sun. Wait until nightfall.Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

Source: https://patch.com/california/across-ca/how-see-brightest-comet-2025-over-ca-week