Comets are often treated as leftovers, but sometimes the leftovers become the primary focus. That is the case with 3I/ATLAS, only the third known interstellar object seen crossing the solar system, ...

An artist’s impression of exocomets orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. I do so love an ostentatious comet. As I wrote in a recent “The Universe” column, when these dusty ice balls are billions of ...

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reobserved interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on 30 November with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. At the time, the comet was about 286 million kilometers from Earth.

I do so love an ostentatious comet. As I wrote in a recent “The Universe” column, when these dusty ice balls are billions of kilometers from the sun, they’re frozen solid. But as they near our star on ...

The buzz around interstellar object 3I/ATLAS—hypothesized by some to be anything from an exotic comet to a piece of alien technology—is likely to take another unpredictable turn, with a new image ...

A small, icy visitor from beyond the solar system is giving scientists an unusually close look at the chemistry that may help planets come alive. As the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS sweeps past the Sun ...

The past year delivered unprecedented discoveries in space. Astronomers uncovered clues about Mars, interstellar comets, exoplanets, and dark energy, captivating scientists and enthusiasts worldwide.

Is 3I/Atlas an interstellar alien vessel or simply an intriguing, unique rock hurling through the cosmos? That debate has been raging ever since the comet, only the third known interstellar object to ...

Astronomers say 3I/ATLAS offers a rare glimpse into material formed around another star, providing data that could reshape how scientists classify comets beyond our Solar System. When Comet 3I/ATLAS ...

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is, once again, doing something strange. This interloper from another star is currently concealed from view behind the sun, leading some people to wonder what it has ...