And high above, comet Hale-Bopp hung suspended like a feathery fishing lure, its tail curving off a bit, as if blown to the side by the punishing wind. One by one, stars winked on in a darkening sky.

The idea that comets delivered water to early Earth has fallen out of favor in the past decade, but a new look at data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission to an iconic “rubber ...

Skywatchers witnessed the remarkable appearance of Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) on January 13, 2025. With a brightness comparable ...

Take this quiz to see how much you know about comets and meteors. Save $5 on a Nat Geo Digital Subscription Your interests, backed by facts and science—now only $19 ...

A University of Michigan-led study published in the journal Icarus makes the case that a large part of earth’s water may have come from so-called ‘dark comets.’ Dark comets are near-earth ...

ONE of the brightest comets to pass Earth in nearly 20 years could be visible to the naked eye in a once-in-a-lifetime display next week. The space rock, formally known as G3 ATLAS (C/2024), is ...

Project. Although there are no guarantees, a comet is expected to brighten significantly over the next few months and, with some luck, could be a bright naked-eye comet come September and October.