Interstellar comet defies Sun's gravitational pull
The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope just snapped some incredible images of 3I/ATLAS, a comet that's actually from outside our Solar System.
Discovered in July 2025, it's only the third interstellar visitor we've ever seen here.
Its wild, hyperbolic orbit means it won't stick around—it's just passing through.
The comet will be closest to the Sun in October
Scientists are tracking 3I/ATLAS closely to learn what it's made of and how interstellar objects behave.
The VLT caught the comet about 670 million kilometers from the Sun, and it'll swing closest to Earth (near Mars) in October—though we won't see much then since it'll be hidden behind the Sun.
Good news: it should become visible again in December, giving researchers another shot at studying this cosmic traveler.