Overview

• The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center confirmed its hyperbolic trajectory and officially designated the object C/2025 N1 (3I/ATLAS) as the third known interstellar visitor.
• 3I/ATLAS is now inside Jupiter’s orbit and moving at about 60 km/s, exhibiting a faint coma and short tail that signal active outgassing.
• NASA and ESA report it poses no threat to Earth, remaining at least 150 million miles away, and it will be observable through ground-based telescopes until September with a return window after December.
• The comet will reach perihelion on Oct. 30, passing just inside Mars’s orbit at roughly 130 million miles from the sun, when it is expected to brighten.
• Its discovery highlights advances in automated sky surveys and sets the stage for upcoming facilities like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission to deepen our study of interstellar objects.