NEW YORK — The northern lights fascinated countless people across the Tri-State area this week, but Mother Nature isn’t done showing off yet.

If you’re lucky, experts say Friday and Saturday from the Tri-State area you might be able to see a comet that hasn’t been seen from Earth in 80,000 years.

How to see the comet

In New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, you need a clear view to the west to see the comet with the naked eye.

“You really want to wait until the sun sets, but not long after,” says Bart Fried, membership chairman of the Amateur Astronomers Association.

According to Fried, your best shot at the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is 30 minutes after sunset if you look directly above the sunset.

The best viewing figures are expected on Saturday evening. Depending on the cloud cover, you may be able to see the comet again next week.

“The Neanderthals were the first people to see it,” Fried said. “Centuries ago they were portraits of doom. Today it’s the exact opposite.”

The CCNY Planetarium created a simulation to show the position of the comet as it enters and leaves Earth’s atmosphere.

“The formal name is C-2023A3,” says Dr. James Hedberg, director of the planetarium. “It’s thought to have its origins in the Ort cloud, a distant collection of rocks and ice, very, very far away.”

Why are comets so rare?

According to Hedberg, there is no guarantee that the comet will ever return close enough to Earth to see it again.

“It’s these rare moments that change your life,” he said. “It took this thing tens of thousands of years to get here.”

“If there’s a good comet, you can’t take your eyes off it,” Fried said.

Jackie Faherty, senior researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, explains why seeing a comet like this is so rare.

“Because our solar system is pretty empty,” Faherty said. “You just don’t know if you’ll ever see one, because they have to have the right conditions to get the right amount of sunlight and be the right distance away from us.”

The comet is nothing to worry about, experts say, because it is so far from Earth. So enjoy the show in the sky!