In the coming days, a bright comet will be visible in skies around the world for the first time in 160,000 years.

NASA says the future brightness of comets is “notoriously difficult” to predict, but Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) may still be bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.

On Monday, the comet was at perihelion, the point at which it is closest to the sun, which affects its brightness. Experts say it will be visible starting Monday night.

While the exact location of possible visibility is unknown, experts believe the comet may be as bright as Venus and is best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere.

The comet was discovered last year by NASA’s Earth-impacting Final Alert System.

Dr Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astrophysics and cosmology at King’s College London, said “current orbit calculations indicate that it will pass about 8.3 million miles from the sun”, which classifies it as “orbiting the sun” comet.

The university described the comet as a once-in-160,000-year event.

“Opportunities for spotting comets may arise during the days near perihelion, depending on local conditions and the behavior of the comet,” Dr. Balaji said.

“As with all comets, its visibility and brightness are unpredictable,” he added.

Mr Balaji said people living in the Southern Hemisphere – where the best spots for spotting the comet are expected to be – should “look towards the eastern horizon before sunrise, (and) after perihelion, try to look towards the western horizon after sunset” look.”

But Mr Balaji added that while the comet was expected to be “very bright”, predictions of comet brightness were “very uncertain” and many comets ended up being dimmer than initially predicted.

For the Northern Hemisphere – including the UK – observing comets can be challenging due to the relative nature of the comet to the Sun.

you can check BBC Weather Online See if the sky is clear enough to see where you are.

Mr. Balaji advises people who want to observe the comet to find a place away from light pollution and use binoculars or a small telescope.

He warned observers to be careful at sunrise and sunset and said to track the comet’s position to find out where it might appear in the sky.

Meanwhile, astronomers have been tracking the comet’s path.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit shared a photo of the comet taken from the International Space Station on social media on Saturday.

“It’s amazing to see a comet from orbit. Atlas C2024-G3 is visiting us,” he wrote.