As the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS prepares for its close flyby of Earth, debate over its origins and behavior has intensified, with scientists sharply divided over whether the mysterious visitor is ...

The interstellar comet will pass safely by Earth, giving astronomers their best chance to study it up close. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s ...

Since its discovery, some people have speculated that interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS could be alien technology. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb points to its unusual trajectory and composition as ...

Comet 3I/ATLAS—the third interstellar object ever known to pass through our solar system—is accelerating and now approaching its closest point to Earth. “Significant” non-gravitational accelerations ...

The comet poses no danger to Earth and will pass at a distance of about 170 million miles. Scientists are studying the object, which originated outside our solar system, using telescopes like Hubble ...

This week, just days before Christmas, the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will make its closest approach to planet Earth – so close, that anyone with a "powerful amateur" telescope might see it. Here's ...

Scientists used the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to obtain images of the third-ever detected interstellar object, Comet 3I/ATLAS, on Nov. 26, 2025. Credit: NSF NOIRLab In the spirit of the season, ...

The European Space Agency's X-ray space observatory XMM-Newton observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on 3 December for around 20 hours. During that time, the comet was about 282–285 million km from the ...

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope caught a glimpse of 3I/ATLAS – in July and on Nov. 30, 2025. An ESA orbiter bound for Jupiter also observed the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. How big is 3I/ATLAS ...

The comet is the third object ever confirmed to have entered our cosmic neighborhood from elsewhere in the galaxy. Space telescopes and orbiters have been documenting the rare visit. A mysterious ...

Methanol has long been considered a basic building block of life as we know it: the molecule plays a crucial role in producing the proteins and amino acids that make up DNA and RNA, upon which all ...