'Comet of the Century' last seen over 80,000 years ago spotted in the skies above Peterborough

A comet that scientists believe would have been visible over 80,000 years ago has been captured in the skies of Peterborough.

The man behind the lens was of course the legendary David Lowndes who has produced the stunning visual by stacking a number of photographs taken on his Nikon Z9 camera with 15 exposures 15 seconds apart.

The Royal Astronomical Society has dubbed the C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) the "comet of the century” because of his distinctiveness and brightness in the sky.

The image was captured overnight on Saturday (October 19) over Milton Ferry Bridge at Ferry Meadows.

David said: “Just the the Aurora the other week, these things don’t come around very often so you have to make the effort!

"You need to hurry because it is fading each night and soon it will be gone forever.

"The easiest was to see it is often by camera rather than the naked eye. Any 35mm camera with a small telephoto lens will give you a good chance of getting a picture of it.”

The C/2023 A3 was only discovered in January 2023 and is believed to have originated from beyond the inner Solar System and Kuiper Belt is believed to have never reached the inner solar system in human history before.

The comet could only be visible for the next few days in the UK and this could be for the final time ever.

Based on calculations, astronomers have said that it could be another 80,000 years before it is visible again and that is only if it survives its journey about the solar system.