Astronomy Picture of the Day - 3I ATLAS: Tails of an Interstellar Comet

NASA ^ | 1 Dec, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Sabet & Julien De Winter

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: How typical is our Solar System? Studying 3I/ATLAS, a comet just passing through, is providing clues. Confirmed previous interstellar visitors include an asteroid, a comet, a meteor, and a gas wind dominated by hydrogen and helium. Comet 3I/ATLAS appears relatively normal when compared to Solar System comets, therefore providing more evidence that our Solar System is a somewhat typical star system. For example, Comet 3I/ATLAS has a broadly similar chemical composition and ejected dust. The featured image was captured last week from Texas and shows a green coma, a wandering blue-tinted ion tail likely deflected by our Sun's wind, and a slight anti-tail, all typical cometary attributes. The comet, visible with a telescope, passed its closest to the Sun in late October and will pass its closest to the Earth in mid-December, after which it will return to interstellar space and never return.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: 3iatlas; apod; aviloeb; interstellar; nasa; naturalobject

[MtnClimber]

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[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[NavyShoe]

Come back, 3I!

[telescope115]

NICE! The nucleus is in there somewhere….

[null and void]

"Mine is a long and sad tale..."

[dayglored]

Oh bravo, Nully!

[SunkenCiv]

• Kim Kardashian invited to join research team for 3I/ATLAS comet -- which scientists fear could contain alien life [11/05/2025]

[AFB-XYZ]

They’re looking for eggs.