About C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)
C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) is an epic comet. It swings within 0.01 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
Dives perilously close to the Sun — most don't survive the encounter.
Epic comet 48 EP
C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 4 badgesEpic 68 pts → Anomaly
- Retrograde orbit +18
- Sungrazer +16
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
Total score 48
20 more points to reach Anomaly.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Sungrazer · +16
- Retrograde orbit · +18
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
What makes it special
- Sungrazer. Dives perilously close to the Sun — most don't survive the encounter.
- Backwards orbit. Orbits against the grain — retrograde to almost everything else.
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Cosmic context
- Wild orbit. Its highly elliptical path swings between scorching and frozen each lap.
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion.
Properties
- eccentricity
- 0.9999
- inclination
- 141.9
- name
- C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- COM
- perihelion au
- 0.0096
- semi major au
- 96.26
- sungrazer
- yes
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) is an epic comet
C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) scores 48 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 20 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Comet, Sungrazer, Retrograde orbit and Has a proper name — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.