The C/2024 G3 ATLAS comet will be closest to earth on 14th January 2025 and may be visible in the night sky from then until the end of January.

Auahiroa and auahitūroa, meaning ‘long smoke trails’, and ūpokoroa, were common names for comets. One tradition from the Mātaatua tribes in the Bay of Plenty says that Te Rā (the sun) sent his son Auahi-tūroa, a comet, to give fire to humankind. Auahi-tūroa married Mahuika, who bore five children, Te Tokorima (the five fingers): Takonui, Takoroa, Māpere, Manawa and Toiti. Another account says that the demigod Māui retrieved fire from the fingernails of Mahuika, his grandmother, and planted it in trees such as kaikōmako, rimu and tōtara, which were used in traditional fire making. Fire is often known as Tama-a-Auahi-tūroa (son of Auahi-tūroa).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over Nelson in September 2024