Explore the latest developments concerning Comet 3I/ATLAS |.
Comet 3I/ATLAS
Due to the lapse in federal government funding, NASA is not updating this website.
NASA missions are working together to track and study this rare, interstellar comet as it passes through our solar system.
Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third known object from outside our solar system to be discovered passing through our celestial neighborhood. Astronomers have categorized this object as interstellar because of the hyperbolic shape of its orbital path. (It does not follow a closed orbital path about the Sun.) When the orbit of 3I/ATLAS is traced into the past, the comet clearly originates from outside our solar system.Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth and will remain far away. The closest it will approach our planet is about 1.8 astronomical units (about 170 million miles, or 270 million kilometers). 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest point to the Sun around Oct. 30, 2025, at a distance of about 1.4 au (130 million miles, or 210 million kilometers) — just inside the orbit of Mars.The interstellar comet’s size and physical properties are being investigated by astronomers around the world. 3I/ATLAS should remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September 2025, after which it will pass too close to the Sun to observe. It will reappear on the other side of the Sun by early December 2025, allowing for renewed observations.
Are internet rumours of a comet hurtling towards Earth true?
Space agencies say the comet, 3I/ATLAS, poses no danger, despite viral conspiracy claims.
Rumours across social media platforms that a huge comet is on a collision course with Earth have been circulating, with some users describing it as a major threat to humanity.
Others are debating how the comet – known as 3I/ATLAS and detected by NASA’s ATLAS telescope on July 1 – might be diverted from the Earth. Some have even gone so far as to highlight “news” of military movements and an international coordination to counter the comet before impact, prompting further alarm.
So is there any truth to these rumours and what do we know for sure?
Solar power bank 38800mAh with built-in cable, lightweight and large capacity universal mobile power supply for mobile phones
A Preliminary View of 3I/ATLAS from Mars
In a new interview on Newsmax last night (available here), I discussed the seven anomalies of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. My segment was shared with Rep. Tim Burchet, a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Following this interview, the deputy chief of staff for policy at the White House, Stephen Miller, discussed in a separate news segment (available here) the U.S. government shutdown, and was asked during his interview whether the U.S. President was briefed about 3I/ATLAS.
So far, no data from human-made Mars orbiters was publicly released by NASA or ESA. In a subsequent podcast interview with Brian Keating (accessible here), I mentioned anecdotally that the astrophotographer Simeon Schmauß stacked publicly-available images from the Mastcam-Z camera onboard NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars and reported here a faint smudge at the location where 3I/ATLAS was expected to appear on the Martian sky.