Science
Nov 20, 2025 · Cgkik

NASA releases new photos of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

NASA on Wednesday released new images of an interstellar comet, just the third visitor ever confirmed from elsewhere in the galaxy, which show the object as a bright point of light surrounded by a blurry halo of gas and dust.

In the long-awaited photos, the comet, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, mostly appears as an illuminated dot, but some images also reveal its tail as a faint, elongated smudge.

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, circled in the center, as seen by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft. This image was made by stacking a series of images taken on Sept. 16, as the comet was zooming toward Mars. (NASA / Goddard / SwRI / JHU-APL)

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