An ancient, glowing comet that astronomers recently discovered is shimmering in the sky, but could disappear after this year and never be seen again.

Dubbed the “Comet of the Century” by social media users, comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, named C/2023 A3 by scientists, was discovered in 2023 after making its first documented approach to the inner solar system in history, according to NASA .

On September 27th, the celestial traveler came closest to the sun. At the time, scientists assumed the comet wouldn’t survive the sun’s heat until it did.

Judah Santiago, program assistant at Highland Road Park Observatory in Baton Rouge, told The Advocate that the comet appears on the western horizon about 15 minutes after sunset each night. It remains visible for 45 minutes.

You can see the bright bundle of ice and dust with binoculars or a telescope in a dark environment through Oct. 24, NASA said. However, it could be visible to the naked eye if the Sun strongly illuminates the comet’s tail.

Why is the comet rare?

NASA originally said Tsuchinchan-ATLAS wouldn’t be seen for 80,000 years, but new data suggests its path could potentially take it outside the solar system entirely.

Bill Cooke, a NASA astronomer, told the space agency the comet could be ejected from the solar system because the gravitational influence of other planets could pull Tsuchinchan-ATLAS in a different direction. The comet could also experience a “jetting effect,” Cooke said, caused by the release of gases during a solar transit.

While this may be humanity’s last chance to see the shooting star, it will be quite a brilliant finale. The comet is estimated to be between magnitude 2 and magnitude 4, the space agency said. In comparison, the brightness of Sirius – the brightest star in the evening sky – is -1.46.

Where did the comet come from?

Tsuchinchan-ATLAS came from the Oort Cloud, a place that still remains a mystery to scientists and space experts.

The Oort cloud, located far beyond Pluto, is believed to be a thick and huge spherical shell that surrounds the solar system, NASA said. It is made of icy space debris that can be the size of mountains or larger.

Scientists say the Oort cloud is made up mostly of long-period comets, which can take up to 30 million years to orbit the sun once.

What is a comet?

Comets are cosmic remnants of frozen gases, rocks and dust that orbit the sun, NASA said.

As comets orbit closer to the sun, they heat up and expel gases and dust, creating a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. The space agency said this creates a tail that stretches over millions of kilometers.

Scientists believe there are likely billions of comets orbiting the Sun in various regions of the solar system, including the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.