Earth may be about to pass through the ion tail of a comet

Earth is about to have a close encounter with a comet, possibly passing through its ion tail – a rare event. If we’re lucky, a blue streak might appear in the northern hemisphere’s night sky.

Samuel Grant at University College London and Geraint Jones The European Space Agency has said that there is a good chance that tonight, October 10, our planet will cross the path of the ion tail of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). “The situation is particularly unusual,” he says…