Comet ATLAS (C/2024 G3) came within 8.3 million miles of the sun on January 13 as it reached its perihelion, and is now disintegrating.

In the photo from the space station, the comet is captured just above Earth’s horizon, which is illuminated by a bright light — also known as airglow — that occurs in the planet’s upper atmosphere when atoms and molecules emit light after being excited by sunlight.

The asteroid, dubbed 2024 YR4, was detected by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System on Dec. 27, 2024. According to researchers, it has about a 1-in-83 chance of impacting our planet in 2032.

G3 (ATLAS) is one of the few comets on record that became bright enough to be visible in the daytime without optical aid like binoculars or a telescope.

G3 (ATLAS) showed off its spectacular tail plumage to NASA spacecraft when it flew close to the sun this month.

This comet, named ATLAS after the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System that discovered it, reached an extraordinary brightness. It shone as brightly as Venus, making it visible to the naked eye first in the northern hemisphere until mid January then in the south afterwards.

BS4 may be anywhere between 17 and 40 feet across, and will approach at about twice the distance between the Earth and moon.

G3 (ATLAS) dubbed 'Great Comet of 2025' Daytime visibility of Comet 2024 G3 thrills astronomers Comet's stunning tail structure captivates Southern Hemisphere viewers

This week, NASA published images of a comet surging a close path to the sun and a few epic 'post cards from the planets taken by NASA’s robotic explorers. NASA caught images from the comet C ...

NASA and ESA's SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft snapped a video of the comet as it passed three times closer to our star than the orbit of Mercury, and ten times closer than ...

Experts think the comet started breaking up last week, but it's still putting on a show for star gazers for a few more days.