NASA confirmed the interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS will not threaten Earth as it speeds through the solar system at 61 kilometers per second. The space agency discovered the comet through its ATLAS survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, on July 1, 2025, and it represents the third known object from beyond our solar system after Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on October 30 at approximately 210 million kilometers, but it will remain 1.8 astronomical units from Earth. NASA's Hubble, Webb, and SPHEREx telescopes continue monitoring the celestial object as it travels toward its passage behind the sun in late October before moving past Jupiter in March 2026 on its exit from our solar system.
The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on October 30 at approximately 210 million kilometers, but it will remain 1.8 astronomical units from Earth. NASA's Hubble, Webb, and SPHEREx telescopes continue monitoring the celestial object as it travels toward its passage behind the sun in late October before moving past Jupiter in March 2026 on its exit from our solar system.
