NASA Just Found Something Strange Entering Our Solar System: What Is This Mysterious Visitor?

NASA: In a groundbreaking discovery, a NASA-funded telescope in Chile has identified a new comet originating from beyond our solar system. Named 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar object was first spotted on July 1 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile.

This marks only the third known comet to enter our solar system from interstellar space, following the discoveries of 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. The new comet is currently located approximately 420 million miles (670 million kilometers) from Earth, traveling from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.

Following the initial detection, astronomers conducted archival searches and found pre-discovery images of the comet from June 14, captured by other ATLAS telescopes and the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in California. Since then, observatories around the globe have joined the effort to track and study this rare cosmic visitor.

NASA confirmed that 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth, with the comet projected to remain at a minimum safe distance of 1.6 astronomical units (about 150 million miles or 240 million kilometers) from our planet.

Currently about 4.5 au (astronomical units) from the Sun, the comet is expected to reach its closest point to the Sun on October 30, entering just inside the orbit of Mars at 1.4 au (about 130 million miles or 210 million kilometers).

Astronomers are now working to determine the comet's size, composition, and trajectory. It will remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September, before briefly disappearing behind the Sun. Observations are expected to resume by early December as it re-emerges on the other side of the Sun.