"Astrophysicists are scrambling to study an ancient comet from another star system that entered the solar system this year, and which has already swung past Mars. Dubbed 3I/ATLAS, the comet poses no threat to Earth or its neighbouring planets, but has aroused immense interest as space agencies train their sights on what is only one of three interstellar objects detected by scientists."
"3I/ATLAS was first discovered in July by scientist Larry Dennau of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope team, located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. The project is funded by NASA and is operated by researchers at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. Before this, 1I/'Oumuamua, a rocky, cigar-shaped object, was discovered by Canada's Robert Weryk using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, in October 2017."
3I/ATLAS is an interstellar comet that entered the solar system this year and already passed by Mars without threatening Earth or nearby planets. NASA released a trajectory diagram on July 2, 2025, showing its path through the solar system. The comet was discovered in July by Larry Dennau using the ATLAS telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, a NASA-funded project operated by the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. Comets are icy, dusty remnants from the solar system formation about 4.6 billion years ago. Previous interstellar objects include 1I/'Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019).
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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