A comet that has not been visible from Earth for more than 80,000 years was spotted in the skies over the weekend, and may come again in mid-October.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, also known as Comet A3, was captured on camera by Chile-based astronomer Yuri Beletsky in the Atacama Desert on Thursday morning:
Another photo taken on Sunday morning showed the comet appearing even brighter:
The comet was visible from various countries, with faint images also being captured from Bengaluru, India, and Colorado, U.S.:
Despite the comet’s existence only being discovered in 2023, scientists have determined that it was last visible about 80,000 years ago based on its elliptical trajectory, according to earth.com.
Even though it was already spotted from Earth, the comet is expected to swing back around its orbit from the Sun and possibly become visible again October 12-20.
“During this time, Comet C/2023 A3 will climb higher in the sky each night and will slowly fade in visibility as it continues its journey out of the solar system,” the scientific outlet reported.