An ancient, vivid comet that astrologers recently discovered is glimmering in the sky, but may vanish and never be seen again after this year.
Dubbed the "comet of the century" by social media users, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, or C/2023 A3 to scientists, was discovered in 2023 after approaching the inner solar system for the first time documented in history, according to NASA.
The celestial traveler made its closest transit to the sun on Sept. 27. At the time, scientists believed the comet would not survive the heat of the sun, until it did.
Judah Santiago, a program aide at the Highland Road Park Observatory in Baton Rouge, told The Advocate that the comet appears every night on the western horizon approximately 15 minutes after sunset. It remains visible for 45 minutes.
You can see the bright bundle of ice and dust until Oct. 24 by using binoculars or a telescope in a dark environment, NASA said. It could be visible to the naked eye, though, if the sun heavily illuminates on the comet's tail.
Why is the comet rare?
NASA originally said that Tsuchinchan-ATLAS would not be seen again for 80,000 years, but new data suggests that its path may take it out of the solar system completely.
Bill Cooke, a NASA astronomer, told the space agency the comet could be thrown out of the solar system because gravitational influence from other planets could pull Tsuchinchan-ATLAS in a different direction. The comet could also undergo a "jetting effect," Cooke said, which is caused by its release of gasses during a solar transit.
While this may be humanity's last opportunity to see the falling star, it will be a rather bright finale. The comet's brightness is estimated to be between a magnitude of 2 and 4, the space agency said. In comparison, the magnitude of Sirius -- the brightest star in the evening sky -- is -1.46.
Where did the comet come from?
Tsuchinchan-ATLAS came from the Oort Cloud, a place that remains a mystery to scientists and space experts.
The Oort Cloud, located far beyond Pluto, is believed to be a thick and enormous spherical shell that encompasses the solar system, NASA said. It is composed of icy space debris that can be the size of mountains or larger.
Scientists say that the Oort Cloud is most long-period comets, which can take as long as 30 million years to orbit around the sun once.
What is a comet?
Comets are cosmic remnants composed of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the sun, NASA said.
When orbiting closer to the sun, comets heat up and eject gases and dust, creating a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. The space agency said that it then creates a tail that stretches as far as millions of miles.
Scientists believe that there are likely billions of comets orbiting the sun in different regions of the solar system, including the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.