Comet news, features and articles
Latest about Comets

'Crumb trails' of meteoroids could reveal potential 'planet-killer' comets years before they reach Earth
By Abha Jain published
Potentially deadly comets could be spotted many years in advance by following the meteoroid trails they leave near Earth, new research shows.

Watch the 'Halloween comet' ATLAS burn up as it flies into the sun
By Brett Tingley published
Watch Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) make a death dive into the sun in this eerie footage from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft.

Rare illusion gives 'once-in-a-lifetime' comet a seemingly impossible 2nd tail after closest approach to Earth for 80,000 years
By Harry Baker published
New photos of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS appear to show a faint "anti-tail" pointing away in the wrong direction. The puzzling extra limb is the result of a rare illusion that is only possible when our planet is in a certain position.

Scientists discover bright 'sungrazer' comet that could be visible with the naked eye this month — after Tsuchinshan–ATLAS
By Harry Baker published
Newfound comet C/2024 S1 will light up Earth's skies in late October before a super close slingshot around the sun.

Bright comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS could be visible without a telescope for the 1st time in 80,000 years. Here's how to see it this week.
By Jamie Carter published
During late September and mid-October, the much-anticipated comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) could become visible to the naked-eye for skywatchers around the world.

Comet predicted to light up Earth's skies this fall may be falling apart
By Harry Baker published
A new paper suggests that comet C/2023 A3, also known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, may completely break apart before it reaches its closest approach to Earth in October. If the comet does survive long enough to reach us, it should be bright enough to spot with the naked eye.

'Dark comets' may be a much bigger threat to Earth than we thought, new study warns
By Paul Sutter published
A strange class of space rock known as a "dark comet" has qualities of both asteroids and comets — and the hard-to-spot objects may pose a larger threat to Earth than we thought, according to new research.

Explosive 'devil comet' grows seemingly impossible 2nd tail after close flyby of Earth — but it's not what it seems
By Harry Baker published
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as the devil comet, recently made its closest approach to Earth for more than 70 years. During this close encounter, astrophotographers spotted a seemingly impossible "anti-tail" coming off the comet thanks to an extremely rare optical illusion.

Bright comet headed toward Earth could be visible with the naked eye
By Joe Rao published
The incoming comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS might become as brilliant as Venus during its close approach to Earth this fall, potentially making it visible to the naked eye.

See the explosive 'devil comet' get its tail ripped off by a solar storm days before its close approach to the sun
By Harry Baker published
A surprise coronal mass ejection recently smashed into Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, briefly causing the "devil comet" to lose its tail — and a NASA spacecraft caught the whole thing on camera.
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.