Comet 3I/ATLAS will make its closest approach to Earth on December 19, 2025, and can be watched via the Virtual Telescope Project live stream, scheduled to start at 04:00 UTC on December 19 (23:00 EST on December 18).
Spectroscopic observations with the Keck II telescope in Hawaii revealed distinct nickel and cyanide emissions surrounding the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, extending several hundred kilometers from its nucleus. The data, presented by Hoogendam et al. (2025) and summarized by astrophysicist Avi Loeb, show an anomalous concentration of nickel and an absence of iron lines—behavior unseen in known comets. These results, together with earlier Hubble images showing an anti-tail oriented toward the Sun, further reinforce the object’s unusual nature.
The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS showed no measurable non-gravitational acceleration between May and September 2025, implying a nucleus mass above 33 billion tons and a diameter larger than 5 km (3 miles), according to a study co-authored by Harvard Professor Avi Loeb and published on September 24.
NASA released the first results of James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on August 25, 2025, showing a coma dominated by carbon dioxide. The comet was observed on August 6, and complementary data from Hubble and SPHEREx confirm unusual volatile ratios.
Could “comet”3I/ATLAS be a piece of alien technology? A question that might sound straight out of a sci-fi movie is now being brought to the front of the space table by Abraham (Avi) Loeb the Baird Professor of Science and Institute director at Harvard University.
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, first observed by the ATLAS survey in Chile on July 1, 2025, is the third confirmed object of its kind to enter the solar system. Analysis of its hyperbolic trajectory and inbound velocity of ~58 km/s confirms its extrasolar origin, while kinematic modeling suggests it formed in the Milky Way’s ancient thick disk, offering a rare opportunity to study early galactic comet chemistry.
A new study has identified the first known permanent set of asteroids originating from outside our solar system. These are believed to have been captured from other stars billions of years ago, orbiting the Sun in disguise ever since. The findings came more than two…
The Hubble Space Telescope has shared the sharpest view of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov moving at 160 934 km/h (100 000 mph) past the Sun. This is the second interstellar object recorded in our solar system, the first being Oumuamua in 2017. "Hubble…
NASA's Hubble space telescope provided astronomers with the best look yet at Comet 2I/Borisov, the first confirmed interstellar comet, on October 12, 2019. The observation is the sharpest view ever of the said comet. Hubble showed a central concentration of dust…
NASA believes that the mysterious comet named C/2019 Q4, which exited the astronomical community this week, is from outside the solar system. The object was discovered by Gennady Borisov, a Crimean astronomer at the MARGO observatory, Nauchnij, on August 30, 2019….
