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Comet 3I/ATLAS, discovered July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS survey, is the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system. Originating likely from the Milky Way’s thick disk, it may be over 7 billion years old, possibly the oldest comet observed. Traveling at 58 km/s (130,000 mph), it follows a hyperbolic orbit, passing closest to the Sun on October 29, 2025, at 1.36 AU (between Earth and Mars orbits). Hubble images show a teardrop-shaped dust coma and a faint tail, indicating cometary activity driven by sublimating ices, likely carbon monoxide or water. Its nucleus is estimated at 0.32–7 miles (0.5–11.2 km) in diameter, potentially the largest interstellar object detected, surpassing 1I/‘Oumuamua (0.4 km) and 2I/Borisov (1 km). Dust loss is 6–60 kg/s. Observations from Hubble, Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and others continue to study its composition.
Comet 3I/ATLAS, discovered in July 2025, is an ancient interstellar object traveling at 58 km/s. It features a teardrop-shaped coma and faint tail, with a nucleus possibly larger than previous interstellar comets.