It appears once every 80 thousand years.. The Earth will witness a rare astronomical event in the coming days

Written By ندى ماهر عبدربه on 2024/09/30

This article was written originally in Arabic and is translated using a 3rd party automated service. ArabiaWeather is not responsible for any grammatical errors whatsoever.

Arab Weather - Astronomers announced that the world is on a date with a rare astronomical phenomenon that occurs once every 80,000 years, and humans are supposed to witness it in the coming few days, which will give the current generation the opportunity to witness this unique event.

A comet that appears once every 80,000 years.

According to a report published by the British newspaper "Metro", in October 2024, the residents of Britain will be able to see a comet appear above planet Earth, which is a very rare event, as the comet has not been seen since its last appearance in the era of Neanderthal man, thousands of years ago.

Discovery of comet A3

The comet, known as A3, was discovered in January of last year and was expected by scientists to be one of the brightest comets to appear in years. Some even predicted it could be the “comet of the century.”

Comet viewing periods

The comet is expected to be visible to the naked eye during October 2024. The optimal viewing periods will be as follows:

First period: From September 27 to October 2, when it will appear on the eastern horizon just before sunrise.
The second period: from October 12 to 30, when the best chance to see it will be after sunset on the western horizon.

Comet observation through telescopes and binoculars

According to Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society in Britain, you may need binoculars or a telescope to see the comet clearly, especially if you have the right kind of wide-field telescope. Massey noted that the comet may be visible to the naked eye, but that will remain to be seen. He added that good images of the comet could be obtained using long-exposure cameras or even well-mounted mobile phone cameras.

The difference between comets and asteroids

Comets are similar to asteroids in that they are solid objects that orbit the sun, but they are smaller. However, comets are made of ice, rock and gas, unlike asteroids, which are made of only rock and metal. This special composition gives the comet its distinctive tail, as its close proximity to the sun causes the ice to melt and releases gases and dust particles that appear behind it.