A bright comet rushes to earth and is said to outshine the sky

Comet C/2020 F3 flew past Earth in 2020. C/2023 A3 is supposed to be much brighter.

Alexander Ryumin/TASS via Getty Images

• Astronomers have spotted a comet hurtling toward Earth.
• The comet is so bright that it might outshine the starry sky.
• The last time the comet flew towards Earth was around 80,000 years ago.

It’s called C/2023 A3 and is hurtling toward Earth at a speed of 180.610 mph. It’s a comet so bright it might outshine our starry sky, astronauts say. Don’t worry: a collision with our planet is not predicted.

The last time C/2023 A3 flew past the Earth was around 80,000 years ago. Now it should be that time once more in October next year. The comet is said to shine as brightly as the planet Venus. The very bright comet ZTF, which flew past Earth recently, was 100 times less illuminated.

read too

The mysterious object heading towards our solar system might be the first comet from another star system

However, there are still a few hurdles on the comet’s way to Earth. The ball of gas, ice and dust would have to survive the flight next to our sun. But the astronauts are confident: the comet is big enough and will fly past the sun at a distance of around 57 million kilometers.

This article has been translated from English into German. You can read the original here.