Some might be able to witness a rare astronomical event at the end of April. A massive comet, Atlas, which is estimated to be five times the size of Jupiter and about half the size of the Sun, might appear brighter than Venus from Earth by the end of April.
The rocky icy core has a large atmosphere and it is currently close to Mars¡¯ orbit. However, it is speedily making its way to the Sun and will be closest to Earth in April.?
Reportedly, when it moves towards the inner solar system it will be one of the brightest objects in the night sky and potentially the 'comet of a generation'. It is one of the brightest green objects in our solar system currently.?
It was first discovered in December 2019 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert system (ATLAS) in Hawaii and its name comes from the initials.?
It poses no danger to Earth because even at its closest point it will be 72 million miles away from our planet, but still very bright.?
In 1997, Hale-Bopp was the last bright comet visible without a telescope in the northern hemisphere. So Atlas is a ¡®rare event¡¯.?
When Atlas was discovered on December 28, it was faint and could only be seen with a telescope, now that it is coming closer, it¡¯s getting brighter and is visible with binoculars.?
The closer Atlas gets to the Sun, the brighter it will get.?
¡°It's definitely a promising comet. It's pushing towards a level that by the end of April could look really, really stunning¡±, The Times quoted Daniel Brown, an astronomy expert at Nottingham Trent University as saying.?It has become 4,000 times brighter than what it was when it was first discovered.?
Well, here is something to look forward to in April!?