A comet that won’t fly by Earth for another 80,000 years was captured in mesmerizing pictures zooming across the skies of South Carolina.

The once-in-a-lifetime comet, nicknamed A3, emerged from the Oort Cloud – a bubble-shaped, mysterious phenomenon that holds our solar system within it. 

Stargazers anxiously awaited what they labeled the ‘comet of the century’, that was last seen 8,000 decades ago.

And those who were lucky enough to catch the glimpse of history were able to view the incredible images. 

Now, the comet visiting Earth from interstellar space will live on through the riveting pictures. 

The comet was visible shortly after sunset in the western part of the sky over the Lake Murray Dam Hydroelectric Intake Towers near Colombia, in South Carolina

The Oort Cloud is a far distance from Earth – even further than Pluto, which is more than 3.24 billion miles away from our planet.

But the comet is expected to travel much closer and come within 44 million miles away from Earth, NASA reported.

People who reside in the Southern Hemisphere have already been able to witness the event, but those who didn’t catch it shouldn’t lose hope just yet.

Yesterday was just the first day of its arrival. Scientists said that for the next few weeks, those who take a look at the western night sky just after sunset will be able to catch a glimpse, Fox Carolina reported.

Ashley Pagnotta, professor of physics and astronomy at the College of Charleston said that it can be seen as early as yesterday with the naked eye if the sun hits the tail of the comet just right, Post and Courier reported.

The comet won’t fly through the skies of Earth for another 80,000 years and was last seen 8,000 decades ago

The comet emerged from the Oort Cloud – a bubble-like phenomenon that holds our solar system within it 

But of course, binoculars could always help to see the comet in all of its glory.

The best viewing time for A3 will be early next week, Sky and Telescope reported.

The Oort Cloud sounds like any other cloud – except if humans were to visit, they wouldn’t find a puffy, white, delicate creation.

Pagnotta said that its made of massive rocks and debris – some even bigger than mountains.

It’s thought to be the outcome of leftover fragments from when our solar system was created.

Comet A3 was captured early Friday morning in San Francisco, California, just at sunrise making the journey across the Golden Gate Bridge

Stargazers refer to A3 as the ‘comet of the century’ and it made its first arrival on Friday but can be seen for the next few weeks 

Billions of years ago, the cloud acted like a ‘hockey net’, catching rocks and ice chunks as big as Mount Everest, Post and Courier added.

Astronomers refer to the comets from Oort as time capsules, since they contain materials dating all the way back to the solar system’s birth.

Although the comet will still soar 44 million miles away from Earth, it is close enough for astronomers worldwide to analyze it and learn what materials it contains due to advanced technology.

The comet was named after the place where it was first spotted in 2023, the Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory, and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System.

Astronomers’ predictions hold hopes for the comets brightness to increase upon its re-emergence in October, making it possible for city dwellers to see it.

The Oort Cloud, from which the comet emerges from, is said to be the result of fragments left behind from the creation of our solar system

It’s predicted to start each evening higher in the sky and be easier to spot, as long as the comet stays bright enough.

The Southern Hemisphere had a clearer sight of the comet, but as we approach the middle of October it is expected that the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see it more clearly. 

A3 was also spotted in San Francisco, California, early Friday morning and seen at sunrise over Golden Gate Bridge on Friday morning around 6am.

Comets can be classed as ‘long-period or short-period’ depending on the years it takes for them to orbit around the Sun. Short-period comets take less than 200 years, the longest known orbit takes more than 250,000 years to make one trip around the Sun. 

And lucky for us, there is absolutely no chance the comet will hit Earth as it makes its journey through the skies of our planet. 

The dreaded cart often precedes a bad outcome.

When the training staff has to bring out a cart to transport a player during a football game, it’s far from a good sign. So when the Alabama football trainers grabbed a golf cart to take starting cornerback Domani Jackson from the medical tent to the locker room on Saturday during the first half against South Carolina, it didn’t look good.

Jackson had made a tackle during the second quarter but was slow to get up. He immediately went to the medical tent on the sideline once he got helped off the field.

Based on that series of events, Jackson’s chances of returning to the game didn’t seem great.

He certainly didn’t look like he would be able to come back into the game later to make the game-clinching interception. But he did.

Jackson returned in the second half and on the final play, he intercepted South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers to secure No. 7 Alabama’s 27-25 victory at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Jackson not only grabbed the ball but also saved Alabama (5-1, 2-1 SEC) from a second consecutive loss and upset.

The Crimson Tide certainly needed him. Jackson, the Southern Cal transfer, is in his third season of major college football. The only other non-freshman seeing playing time at cornerback is Wake Forest transfer DaShawn Jones, and he has mainly been a rotational piece. Otherwise, it’s Jackson and a handful of freshmen.

Without Jackson for a period of time, Alabama had to turn to Zabien Brown, Jaylen Mbakwe, Zay Mincey and Jones. Brown, Mbakwe and Mincey are all talented freshmen, but that’s a young and overall inexperienced group. With Jackson out of the lineup, South Carolina marched back, having been down 14-0 at the two-minute timeout. By halftime, the Gamecocks only trailed 14-12. The defense was ultimately responsible for seven of those points; South Carolina converted on fourth-and-9 to score a 36-yard touchdown pass.

Then Jackson, who Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said will “be fine,” returned in the second half.

“He’s someone we’ve got a lot of confidence in,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We wanted to just use him at the right times in the right moments in the second half when those times came up.”

However, before Jackson could play the role of game savior, he gave up a touchdown.

South Carolina scored with 43 seconds left as Sellers found receiver Nyck Harbor in the end zone to bring the Gamecocks within two points. Harbor had to make an impressive catch, but Jackson was ultimately the player who gave up the score.

He soon had a chance to make up for it.

Unable to score on the two-point conversion after Harbor’s touchdown, South Carolina had to go for the onside kick. And the Gamecocks recovered it. That gave South Carolina one last chance at points.

Three plays later, Sellers overthrew his intended receiver, and Jackson stepped in from behind to make the interception.

“Finding a way to pull it down, concentrate on the ball, kind of what most people would look at as an easy pick,” DeBoer said, “but you’ve got to still be there. Still got to make the play. Definitely proud of the fight he had wanting to be back out there considering he did go down earlier in the game.”

Jackson intercepted the pass on about the 2-yard line, but his momentum appeared to carry him into the end zone. He looked about ready to kneel in the end zone before safety Malachi Moore encouraged Jackson to take the ball out. Jackson then returned it 38 yards. By NCAA rule, that shouldn’t have been ruled a safety because Jackson’s momentum appeared to carry him into the end zone. But Moore made sure that wasn’t left up to the interpretation of the officials.

Then the celebration commenced, filled with a heavy dose of relief.

On the field postgame, teammates, coaches and staff members flocked to Jackson. Some gave him hugs. Some gave him a pat of gratitude on the helmet.

Pushing through the injury, shaking off the surrendered touchdown, Jackson deserved all the love for the resolve he showed to save Alabama.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.

Alabama football will be without at least one wide receiver for Saturday’s matchup with South Carolina. Kobe Prentice was designated as out according to the SEC’s final availability report, after being listed as questionable throughout the week.

Prentice took a blow to the head during last week’s loss to Vanderbilt, and left the game. The play was initially called targeting, but the penalty was reversed after replay review.

The availability report also listed Prentice’s fellow wide receiver, Kendrick Law. Law was listed as a game time decision, after suffering what head coach Kalen DeBoer called a “lower-leg injury” against Georgia, and missing the Vanderbilt game.

“Both of them out here going through workouts,” DeBoer said of Prentice and Law on Wednesday. “On track like we thought they should be, making progress toward the weekend. Wouldn’t say that they’re full-go yet, but they’re on pace, we had hoped. So getting some work in, some individual and some team work there too, so it’s progressing along and they’re doing a good job.”

Linebacker Yhonzae Pierre will also miss the game. He was listed as out on Wednesday, after posting a picture of himself in what appeared to be a hospital bed on Tuesday.

The SEC mandated teams begin releasing game-week availability reports for the 2024 season. The reports are released beginning Wednesday of conference game week, with the final one coming 90 minutes before scheduled kickoff.

Alabama and South Carolina are set to kick off at 11 a.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be aired on ABC.