Overview

• New Very Large Telescope spectra report strong nickel in the coma with only minor iron, a metal ratio researchers describe as extremely puzzling and detected far from the Sun.
• Observers note rapid brightening, an unusually CO2‑rich coma, and a reported sunward-pointing tail that departs from typical comet behavior.
• NASA and ESA are targeting the Oct. 1–7 passage near Mars with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Express and ExoMars, with ESA’s Juice planning follow-up in November.
• The object is on a confirmed hyperbolic trajectory from outside the solar system, will reach perihelion near Oct. 30 at about 1.4 AU, and will stay no closer than roughly 1.8 AU from Earth.
• Media highlighted a positional coincidence with the 1977 Wow! signal, yet astronomers report no confirmed emissions from the object and continue monitoring.