More than 3 billion miles (4.8 billion kilometers) from Earth, an ancient icy object is slowly awakening. As it drifts inward through the solar system, the frozen body known as Centaur 450P/LONEOS has ...

New infrared observations reveal that the rare interstellar visitor known as comet 3I/ATLAS has dramatically brightened during its farewell tour of the solar system.

Sometime in 2029, the European Space Agency is scheduled to launch its Comet Interceptor Mission. The Interceptor will wait for a long-period comet to arrive in the inner solar system then set off on ...

As 3I/ATLAS passes near the sun, methanol gas glows blue, mixed with icy dust grains, while the far side of the comet glows orange with hydrogen cyanide in this artist's rendering. Credit: NSF / AUI / ...

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Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which passed through the solar system in 2025, seems to have come from a chemically primitive region of the early Milky Way, according to James Webb Space Telescope ...

The comet is the third object ever confirmed to have entered our cosmic neighborhood from elsewhere in the galaxy. Space telescopes and orbiters have been documenting the rare visit. A mysterious ...

This summer, scientists spotted an incredibly rare visitor to Earth’s solar system—a comet, now known as 3I/ATLAS, that entered our solar system from the galaxy beyond and is zipping past the sun at a ...

Comets have played an interesting role in the history of astronomy. Since antiquity, many cultures saw them as omens or spirits, portending good or bad news for kings, queens and emperors. Over the ...