The best vantage point for observing Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is in space. Which is where astronaut Don Pettit took this stunning photograph from, perched with his camera behind a window in the NASA ISS at ~400 km altitude, on Jan 11.
☄️ 🚀
#Comet #C2024G3
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Here is a still from a simulation of C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) by French optical engineer and amateur photographer Nicolas Lefaudeux.

The website shows a multi-day visualization of the comet as it survives perihelion and develops a bright tail that persists for several days thereafter.

Check out the website for the full visualization - https://hdr-astrophotography.com/
Credit: Nicolas Lefaudeux
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Here is the latest image of the Sun's corona taken by the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft with Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) in the view, 2 hours before perihelion.

The image was taken by the Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO) instrument aboard the NASA/ESA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft.

You can see a time-lapse video at https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/lasco-coronagraph

https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/
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Did Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) survive its close flyby of the Sun?

Perhaps, it did.

Here is an image of the Sun's corona taken by the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft with Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) in the view, about 15 hours after perihelion.

The image was taken by the Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO) instrument aboard the NASA/ESA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft.

#Comet
https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/
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25 hours after perihelion, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) looks like a space plane headed for Earth with a large exhaust tail behind it, as seen in this image of the Sun's corona taken by the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft.

The image was taken by the Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO) instrument aboard the NASA/ESA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft.

https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/
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One can see why Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) will be difficult to observe from the northern hemisphere, given its location relative to the Sun as seen from a vantage point in the northern hemisphere.

Ideally, you want the comet to be located sufficiently above or below the Sun, but in the case of New York, it is located just slightly above the Sun for a few days and to the side after that.

Sydney OTOH has a much favorable view of the comet as seen below.

https://stellarium-web.org/
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Here is an outstanding pic of comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) taken by astronomer and nightscape photographer Yuri Beletsky in the southern hemisphere from the ESO observatory in Paranal in the Atacama desert in Chile.

Canon R6 + 70-200/2.8 @ 200mm, 15 x 1 sec
https://www.instagram.com/p/DE7_iz5JbQM/

Yuri's artwork is available for purchase at https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/yuri-beletsky/shop

#Comet #C2024G3
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