Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, a cosmic rock first discovered by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Chile on July 1, 2025. mid-October — expanding that catalog with some of the clearest and most detailed look at the comet yet.
The images were taken by NASA’s PUNCH sun-observing satellites, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, and the Perseverance Rover on Mars. The photos mostly show 3I/ATLAS as an illuminated dot, but some also show the comet’s tail as a faint, elongated smudge. Non-US space cameras have also taken pictures of the comet, including the European Space Agency and Russia’s Federal Space Agency’s shared probe, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
At this time, 3I/ATLAS is not visible to ground-based telescopes due to its proximity to the sun, but it is expected to fly by Earth on December 19, at which point it should be visible by the James Webb Space Telescope and ground-based technology such as the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Scientists and space enthusiasts are thrilled by the pilgrimage of comet 3I/ATLAS through the inner solar system. The only other objects confirmed to have visited from different areas of the galaxy were 1I/’Oumuamua in 2017 and comet 2I/Borisov in 2019 — the former of which helped NASA discover seven other dark comets.
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Our solar system rarely receives interstellar visitors
A series of stacked color images showing comet 3I/ATLAS using the visible light imager on the STEREO-A (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft. – NASA/Lowell Observatory/Qicheng Zhang
The emergence of 3I/ATLAS has fueled the extraterrestrial fire, with some people thinking the comet may be a form of alien technology. But Nicky Fox, the associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, spoke to NBC, confirming that all observations so far point to nothing more than a rock in space. “We certainly didn’t see any techno signatures or anything that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a comet.” Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn more about distant star systems from 3I/ATLAS, especially as it gets closer to Earth. “It could be from something that existed before our own solar system. That’s so cool,” Fox pointed out.
In the coming weeks, scientists should be able to collect data on 3I/ATLAS’s chemical makeup, appearance, speed and potential place of origin. And if you’re wondering if comet 3I/ATLAS could be a threat to our planet, rest assured, the cosmic comet is expected to remain 170 million miles away as it flies past us.
Researchers have already speculated that the acceleration of comet 3I/ATLAS may not be caused by gravity, and we already know that 3I/ATLAS is rich in carbon dioxide. Here’s hoping we learn even more about this space-bound boulder when it rears its head again in mid-December.
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