Comet visits to the inner solar system continue in 2025. An icy space rock from the Oort cloud will come extremely close to the Sun in the second week of January, and if it manages to survive the trip, it would make for a wonderful spectacle from Earth as well.

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Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3 will reach its closest point to the sun on Jan 13, 2025. At perihelion, the comet will be just 8.3 million miles (13.5 million kilometres) from the sun. On the same day, Comet G3 will also appear at its brightest from Earth. Notably, Mercury is nearly 29 million miles (47 million kilometres) from the sun.

It was discovered on April 5, 2024, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) system of telescopes.

However, whether or not it will survive the heat of the sun is still not clear. If it does, it would be the brightest comet of 2025.

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But it would be visible to the naked eye only in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2024, when Comet A3 travelled to the inside of the solar system, it was spotted by several stargazers in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.

Comet G3 is expected to become as bright as Venus. According to The Planetary Society, the comet's brightness would be at a magnitude of -4.5 during January 2025 and it will travel in the constellation Sagittarius.

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Also Read: NASA spacecraft makes history by getting closest-ever to Sun

Will Comet G3 survive the Sun?

The comet will get too close to the sun, making experts wonder whether it will survive the trip. Experts are hopeful since its orbital path suggests that the last time it visited the inner solar system was about 160,000 years ago. This means that it likely escaped unscathed at the time. 

"It will be strongly heated and may not survive," said Nick James, director of the British Astronomical Association's comet section, as per Space.com.

"But if it does, it may be an impressive object in the evening sky from the southern hemisphere after perihelion."

James also cautioned that since the comet will be extremely close to the sun, only "experienced observers" should attempt to view it as otherwise it might prove dangerous.

The bright moon around the time of comet G3's perihelion will also make viewing it tough. January's full "Cold Moon" will rise opposite the comet on the eastern horizon on Jan 13.