Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will zoom past Earth on November 11
Heads up, skywatchers!
The rare interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, spotted by NASA's ATLAS telescopes this July, will make a one-time appearance in the eastern pre-dawn sky on November 11.
It's zooming through our solar system just once—after this, it's gone for good.
How to spot the comet
Look near the constellation Sagittarius before sunrise.
You'll need at least an 8-inch telescope since it's faint and stays over 170 million miles away (so no worries about safety).
If you can't spot it yourself, NASA and ESA are offering live tracking online.
Closest approach to Sun and unusual green glow
After swinging closest to the Sun in late October, 3I/ATLAS surprised scientists by glowing five times brighter and turning green—thanks to diatomic carbon.
Oddly enough, there's no tail like most comets have; researchers think a tough outer crust might be stopping it from shedding material as expected.
Why tail-less comets are important for science
This missing tail has scientists digging deeper into what makes 3I/ATLAS tick.
Studying its weird features could help unlock new clues about how comets—and maybe even planets—form out there in space.