Overview

• A coronal mass ejection in late September hit 3I/ATLAS, and teams are watching for any trajectory changes or fresh material shed by the object.
• Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb estimates the mass exceeds 33 billion tons with a nucleus larger than 3.1 miles, derived from slight non‑gravitational acceleration linked to outgassing.
• NASA continues to classify 3I/ATLAS as a comet, while Loeb’s suggestion of a technological artifact remains a minority, unconfirmed hypothesis.
• The comet becomes unobservable from Earth as it moves behind the Sun, reaches perihelion on October 29 at about 202 million kilometers from the Sun, and is expected to be visible again from late November.
• Current trajectories place the object near the orbits of Mars, Jupiter and Venus, with no threat to Earth and a closest‑Earth distance projected at roughly 268 million kilometers.