C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Perihelion	13 Jan 2025	-4.1	0.094 AU	0.940 AU	19h40m	-16°30'	4.9°	115.2°	1°
Nearest approach	13 Jan 2025	-3.9	0.098 AU	0.937 AU	19h52m	-16°52'	5.1°	115.8°	28°
Today	17 Oct 2025	16.9	4.581 AU	4.588 AU	21h20m	-84°44'	83.3°	12.5°	61°

Do NOT attempt to observe a comet near the sun. Doing so may cause permanent eye damage or blindless!
Observing in daylight should only be done by those who have proper expertise and equipment to do so safely.

This comet is a sunskirter. Although it may become very bright at perihelion, this will only be for a very short period very close to the sun.

The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 6.9 + 5 log[∆] + 10.2 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)

Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Orbital elements

The orbital elements of C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) are:

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0000070
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.0936010
    i (Inclination)                 : 116.84730
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 220.36490
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 108.14110
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 274.40415
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 57.98007
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460688.92340

    Epoch                           : 2025 Oct 15
    Reference                       : MPC184412

    Classification(s):              : Nearly isotropic; New (a > 10000 AU); Sunskirter

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-16 00:00 UT   21 24 52.5   -84 57 51     4.566    4.567   83.8   12.5    59   16.9 
2025-10-17 00:00 UT   21 21 23.5   -84 46 45     4.585    4.579   83.4   12.5    61   16.9 
2025-10-17 04:25 UT   21 20 47.7   -84 44 41     4.588    4.581   83.3   12.5    61   16.9 
2025-10-18 00:00 UT   21 18 18.5   -84 35 33     4.604    4.590   83.0   12.4    62   16.9 
2025-10-19 00:00 UT   21 15 35.2   -84 24 18     4.623    4.601   82.6   12.4    64   17.0 
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   21 13 11.5   -84 12 60     4.641    4.612   82.1   12.4    65   17.0 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   21 11 05.5   -84 01 40     4.660    4.624   81.7   12.3    67   17.0 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   21 09 15.6   -83 50 19     4.679    4.635   81.3   12.3    68   17.0 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   21 07 40.2   -83 38 57     4.698    4.646   80.9   12.2    69   17.0 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   21 06 18.1   -83 27 35     4.717    4.657   80.5   12.2    71   17.1 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   21 05 08.1   -83 16 14     4.736    4.668   80.0   12.1    72   17.1 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   21 04 09.1   -83 04 54     4.755    4.679   79.6   12.1    73   17.1 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   21 03 20.2   -82 53 35     4.774    4.691   79.2   12.0    74   17.1 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km      
    

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.