How do we know 3I/ATLAS, also called comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), is interstellar? Will it strike Earth? Can we visit it? Here ...

Aside from those hanging out around Jupiter, comets come in two main types: short-period and long-period comets. The former have orbits lasting 200 years or fewer.

Some of these objects, born in the solar system's outer fringes, are long-period comets (LPCs) that only come close to the sun every 200 years or more. While LPCs may enthrall skywatchers, they're ...

The E3 comet — officially known as C/2022 E3 (ZTF) — was first discovered in March of 2022. The comet is what astronomers call a long-period comet. This label is applied whenever a comet’s ...

Some of these objects, born in the solar system's outer fringes, are long-period comets (LPCs) that only come close to the sun every 200 years or more. You may like ...

Long-period comets spend most of their time far away, circling slowly at the edge of the solar system. But every few hundred years, they dive inward. As they move closer to the Sun, ...

C/2023 A3 has generated excitement among astronomers and amateur skywatchers for being a long-period comet that takes more than 200 years to orbit the sun – or 80,000 years in this comet's case ...

C/2023 A3 has generated excitement among astronomers and amateur skywatchers because it's a long-period comet, one that takes more than 200 years to orbit the sun. (Short-period comets take less ...

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a long-period comet that was first discovered by astronomers using the Tsuchinshan Observatory in China. This comet is notable for its impressive return to the inner ...

Long-period comets present a particular potential danger to Earth. Because they are so far from our Sun, their orbits are readily altered by the gravity of other stars.