When the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 1, 2025, it quickly attracted attention because it was not just the third known object outside the solar system. Some researchers, including Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, believe that some of the unusual features are interesting enough to leave open the possibility of … Read more
Views from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope throw the familiar categories of comet science into something awkward. 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object that transited only briefly through the solar system, has been observed before, but this reading feels less like a routine update and more like a chemical surprise that refuses to sit neatly alongside the … Read more
Comets usually disappear quietly after passing by the sun. Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS did not follow the same path. Instead, it burned dramatically as it began to exit the solar system. NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope captured the burst in December 2025 and found water vapor, carbon dioxide and complex organic compounds flowing into space. For astronomers, … Read more