Named 3I/ATLAS, the comet is only the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, and it's the largest and brightest one yet. Perhaps unsurprisingly, researchers around the world are training every instrument at their ready on it, including NASA's new space observatory SPHEREx.

Astronomers continue to track the third-ever discovered interstellar object, comet 3I/ATLAS, as it moves through our cosmic neighborhood using powerful telescopes and spacecraft.

Recently discovered interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS have been captured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey telescope discovered the comet.

Today Psyche spacecraft on 2025 September 4 has a chance to look at 0.302 AU distance as 3I/Atlas passes by Mars. October, the martian spacecraft array on 2025 October 3 and the Juice spacecraft on 2025 November 4.

Two more of NASA's space telescopes got another look at comet 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar interloper that captured the world's attention in July 2025.

It doesn't often happen that an relic of the ancient past of the galaxy manages to work its way into our corner. But Comet 3I/ATLAS, perhaps billions of years more ancient than the Sun, is doing just that and will,

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has completed a mission study detailing how a proposed spacecraft could fly by an interstellar comet, providing remarkable insights into the properties of bodies originating beyond our solar system.

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will zoom past Mars in October 2025, and ESA's Mars orbiters will attempt to image and analyze the object during the encounter.