Comets are "snowballs" of ice and dust that formed during the birth of our solar system and have orbited the sun since. Live Science brings you the latest comet news, features and articles as astronomers track these extraordinary objects. From the city-sized comet that grew "horns" to the mega comet that may be the largest seen in recorded history, our expert writers and editors will tell you everything you need to know about them, and how to observe them when they're visible from Earth.
Discover more about comets
—What's the difference between asteroids, comets and meteors?
Latest about Comets
Space photo of the week: The last view of the 'Great Comet of 2025' for half a million years
Beautifully captured against a starry sky, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) — dubbed by some as the "Great Comet of 2025" — shines brightly after its last approach to the sun for hundreds of thousands of years.
Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS' 'near-death encounter' with the sun may have blown it apart, new photos suggest
New photos of comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) suggest that it could be disintegrating due to "thermal stress" from its recent slingshot around the sun. However, its fate is still unclear.
'Totally amazing' astronaut photo captures comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS shooting past Earth from the ISS
NASA astronaut Don Pettit has snapped a striking shot of the super-bright comet racing past our planet for the first time in 160,000 years, as it lit up the night skies across the globe.
Rare comet could shine bright as Venus as it falls toward the sun: What to expect from Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3
Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3 is set to dazzle Southern Hemisphere skywatchers in mid-January. Here’s everything you need to know about the 'New Year comet'.
Comets played a 'major' role in making life on Earth possible, new study hints
A reanalysis of the data from the "rubber-ducky" comet 67P, collected nearly a decade ago, suggests comets may have deposited a lot more water on Earth than scientists previously thought.
Mysterious, city-size 'centaur' comet gets 300 times brighter after quadruple cold-volcanic eruption
The cryovolcanic "centaur" comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann has erupted four times in less than 48 hours, becoming unusually bright in the process. It is the most powerful outburst from the city-size oddball in more than three years.
'Crumb trails' of meteoroids could reveal potential 'planet-killer' comets years before they reach Earth
Potentially deadly comets could be spotted many years in advance by following the meteoroid trails they leave near Earth, new research shows.
Watch the 'Halloween comet' ATLAS burn up as it flies into the sun
Watch Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) make a death dive into the sun in this eerie footage from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft.
Rare illusion gives 'once-in-a-lifetime' comet a seemingly impossible 2nd tail after closest approach to Earth for 80,000 years
New photos of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS appear to show a faint "anti-tail" pointing away in the wrong direction. The puzzling extra limb is the result of a rare illusion that is only possible when our planet is in a certain position.
