Tonight is the first chance for New Zealanders to spot a comet with the naked eye that hasn’t been seen in our skies for 80,000 years.

Comet C/2023 A3 is expected to be visible in the western skies of the country until later in the week.

“You’re going to see a really bright planet which is Venus, and if you look below that to the right, you might see this little fuzzy patch in the sky. That’s the comet,” Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki told the Herald.

He said the comet was likely to have a tail extending from the back.

Aoraki told the Herald there would only be a small window in which to catch a glimpse of the comet this evening.

“It’s really low on the horizon because the comet is still quite close to the sun and as soon as the sun sets, the sky is still quite bright,” he said.

“The comet is basically setting right after the sun.”

The astronomer said chances to see it would improve during the next three days when it gets higher in the sky.

However, he said there could be a risk of cloud cover.

“It doesn’t look very great for Wednesday and Thursday, but it might improve on Friday. But knowing Auckland weather, you just have to play it day by day.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) seen from Victoria, Australia. Photo / Peter Lieverdink

“Into Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be the sweet spot for viewing.”

The best option for seeing the comet would be to leave the city due to light pollution, he said.

“In Auckland, if you go out to places like Muriwai and Piha, that will give you the best shot.

“We don’t often get bright naked-eye visibility comets. They’re very rare and unpredictable. But this has been the most promising one in several years.”

Comet C/2023 A3 has an 80,000-year orbit.

“It’s not like Halley’s Comet that goes around the sun in 80 years,” he said.

“It has a very long orbit so it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to see this comet.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is happening this week when Comet C/2023 A3 will be visible with the naked eye in the western skies.

“It’s quite rare to see a naked-eye comet so I implore people to go and see it.”

This potential sighting comes a week after Aurora Australis lit up the skies in blazing purple, blue and pink for Southland and Otago residents.

People were given a rare glimpse into the mechanics of the sun and its effects on our planet after the solar flares caused the colourful display last week.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation and energy blasted from the sun’s surface when built-up magnetic energy is suddenly released.

They often happen near sunspots, where the Sun’s magnetic fields are particularly strong.

Particularly when such flares are accompanied by coronal mass ejections, they can release massive clouds of charged particles, or plasma, that travel through space and interact with Earth’s magnetic field.

This activity can lead to geomagnetic storms, which, in turn, can trigger dazzling auroras visible in our night skies.

David Williams is an Auckland-based multimedia journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.