The Brightest Comet of 2025 Will Pass By the Sun Next Week—Here's How to See It

If you thought a meteor shower and four-planet conjunction was it for celestial excitement this month, you thought wrong. Even though we are just one week into 2025, the brightest comet of the year is on its way and is expected to pass by the sun on Monday, January 13, according to EarthSky.org.

Comet ATLAS C/2024 G3 will come within 8.3 million miles of the sun during perihelion, an orbit's closest point to the sun, on January 13. While it isn't guaranteed that the comet will survive its journey around the sun, if it does successfully pass by, it could shine brighter than Venus, EarthSky reports.

The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) discovered the comet on April 5, 2024. It's believed that Comet ATLAS C/2024 G3 is on a 160,000-year orbit, meaning it has probably survived at least one close approach to the sun before, according to The Planetary Society. Since it has likely already survived perihelion, the likelihood of it surviving a second time is high.

The comet could become as bright as magnitude -4.9 at its peak, meaning it may be visible during the day. However, because the comet will be so close to the sun, it's best to avoid searching for it during the day, EarthSky.org says.

While December was the best time to see the comet from the Northern Hemisphere, stargazers may still be able to spot it with binoculars. But don't wait—come mid-January it will no longer be visible across most of the U.S. Those living in the Southern Hemisphere will be able to see the comet just after sunset above the horizon in the west from the middle to the end of January, according to The Planetary Society.