On July 1, 2025, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey telescope, located in northern Chile, spotted a new object just inside the orbit of Jupiter. ATLAS scans the sky every night looking for any new comets or asteroids, with specific interest in anything that could be on a collision course with Earth.

Scientists now say an interstellar comet discovered earlier this month could be one of the oldest that astronomers have ever encountered.

Kareta says that come October, when the comet gets closer to Earth, "under dark skies ... with a big telescope and some patience, maybe you might be able to see it." Which he says would be special because, "that might be the first time anyone has actually seen the light from an interstellar object with their own eyes."

The icy traveler, called 3I/ATLAS or Comet ATLAS, was discovered on July 1 by the NASA -funded ATLAS survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile. This enormous space snowball came from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and is about 300 million miles from Earth right now.

AN INTERSTELLAR space rock zooming through our solar system may be the oldest comet ever seen by humans, according to researchers. The mysterious cosmic object was discovered last week, and is

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a cosmic first for this decade, astronomers have identified a mysterious comet from another galaxy — marking only the third time in history that an interstellar object has entered our solar system.

NASA has discovered an interstellar comet that's wandered into our backyard. Luckily, it won't get near enough to be a threat to our planet.

Space scientists say they are preparing a comet interceptor spaceship as the third interstellar object ever detected was spotted this week. A mysterious object the size of Manhattan was spotted by astronomers hurtling through our Solar System at extraordinary speed.