【Love Nonetheless】

One of the many advantages of being in spaceis having a front-row seat to the most anticipated cosmic events. 

NASAastronaut Don Pettit,Love Nonetheless flight engineer for the Expedition 72 crew, proved that when he witnessed Comet ATLAS from the International Space Station, orbiting 250 miles above Earth. The comet, officially known as C/2024 G3, started the week making its closest approach to the sun, and some astronomers are predicting it'll go down as the brightest comet of the year. 

Pettit pointed a camera toward one of the space station's windows and caught the comet as it paid the astronauts a visit.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

"It is totally amazing to see a comet from orbit," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Right now Comet ATLAS appears in the constellation Sagittarius, and though it may look too close for comfort in Pettit's image, it's actually some 87 million milesfrom Earth. Sunlight tends to wash out such objects as they sidle up to the star, but this one can be viewed at dawn or dusk, its own brightness rivaling that of Venus, according to a NASA post. 

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

SEE ALSO: Astronaut snaps strange iridescent clouds at the edge of space NASA astronaut Don Pettit shares a photo of Comet ATLAS that he took from a window of the International Space Station. Credit: Don Pettit / NASA

Comets are enormous balls of ice, dust, and rockthat formed in the outer solar system, left over from the early days of planet formation about 4.6 billion years ago. Their ice starts to disintegrate as they get closer to the sun, converting instantly from a solid to a gas, skipping over the liquid phase. That process creates their signature tails, millions-of-miles-long trails of debris.

Hundreds of years ago, people considered comets bad omens. Today, scientists know these icy bodies as time capsules of the ancient solar system. Some astronomers believe comets brought water and organic compounds — aka the building blocks of life— to early Earth.

As 2024 came to a close, the tally of known cometshad risen to about 4,000. Astronomers say countless others are likely orbiting the sun beyond Neptune in a disk known as the Kuiper Belt, or on the outer edge of the solar system, in the so-called Oort Cloud, about 50 times farther from the sun. 

NASA astronaut Don Pettit uses a camera on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The Oort Cloud is thought to be a sphere of ancient, icy objects surrounding the solar system. Comets there are sometimes dislodged by the gravity of another object, redirecting them toward the sun. This distant realm is where astronomers believe Comet ATLAS, discovered last April, originated. If it survives its close encounter with the sun, the comet may return in about 160,000 years. 

---

Related Stories

---

• Comet caught strangely zigzagging its way through space
• What are comets? The secret lives of space snowballs, explained.
• The best telescopes for gazing at stars and solar eclipses in 2024
• NASA's Hubble confirms largest comet ever seen
• Carter's UFO hounded him for years. Few knew his expertise in astronomy.

Catching a glimpse of the comet anywhere north of the equator is extremely challenging, but for the Southern Hemisphere, stargazers may have a chance to see it above the western horizon shortly after sunset. This could continue from mid-January through the rest of the month.

As Comet ATLAS exits the sun's intense glare over the next day or two, it could become easier to spot. Warning: Never stare in the direction of the sunwithout protective eyewear. 

"There is hope that Comet ATLAS will survive its close pass near the Sun and remain bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye over the next few days," NASA said. 

Topics NASA

• Life
• Games
• Entertainment
• Tech
• Shopping
• Science
• Digital Culture
• Social Good

• The 5 most inappropriate things Donald Trump said at a Puerto Rico disaster briefing
• New Zealand's silver fern redrawn as Muslims praying gets plenty of online attention
• Apple launches 10.5
• 7 Vines that totally ripped the piss out of British politicians
• Best vacuum mop combo deal: Save $140 on the Tineco Floor One S5
• New AirPods add longer talk time, hands
• Facebook announces $399 Oculus Rift S at GDC 2019
• Apple's Jonathan Ive is designing a Christmas tree this year
• Best Apple TV+ deal: Get 3 months for $2.99 monthly
• 'Harry Potter' fans are not happy with JK Rowling's latest Dumbledore comments

• 'BlackBerry' review: Comedy is sparked from true tech tragedy
• Get Your Paris Review Totes While They Last! by The Paris Review
• Rite Aid surveilled customers using facial recognition tech with links to China
• John Jeremiah Sullivan, Wilmington, NC by Matteo Pericoli
• WBAI Celebrates Issue 200 by The Paris Review
• Pixel 7a vs. iPhone 14 vs. Samsung Galaxy S23: Comparing specs, price
• Fair Game by Sadie Stein
• YouTube channel perfectly ruins perfectly good songs
• Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for May 12
• Rejections, Slush, and Turkeys: Happy Monday! by Sadie Stein

• Best roborock deal: Save $400 on Q5 Pro+ Robot Vacuum and Mop
• Refreshing your browser made that huge DDoS attack seem much worse
• Ben Simmons shouts out Australian legend 'egg boy' on his sneakers
• Epic Games store titles, including exclusives, headed to Humble Store
• Sunday's Fat Bear Week match pits two fat favorites against each other
• New AirPods add longer talk time, hands
• This AI predicts online trolling before it happens
• Everyone's talking about Apple's new 'emoji bar'
• Reality Distortion Field: 10 Things Apple Won't Directly Say But We'll Infer About the iPhone X
• This AI predicts online trolling before it happens

• Scientists find supercolony of penguins on the remote Danger Islands
• Google's Stadia turns Chrome into your video game console
• Internet providers block sites that host Christchurch terror attack video
• Facebook reportedly allows advertisers to exclude users by 'ethnic affinity'
• Elon Musk reveals the first passenger SpaceX will send around the moon
• Fyre Festival merch to be auctioned off so Billy McFarland can pay back the people he cheated
• A new MoviePass offer comes close to the tantalizing original plan
• Can Uber help Obamacare? The White House hopes so
• Trump is feeling really, really under
• Watch Lady Gaga surprise a crowd with a Frank Sinatra performance