3I/ATLAS: Largest Interstellar Comet Discovered

Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of a new interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS, first spotted on July 1, 2025, by NASA's ATLAS survey. It is only the third interstellar object detected in our solar system, after 'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. Classified as a comet and estimated to be 10–20 kilometers wide, 3I/ATLAS is likely the largest such object observed and is composed mostly of ice, as evidenced by its fuzzy appearance. The object is traveling at over 60 kilometers per second and will pass just inside Mars’s orbit, posing no threat to Earth, with its closest approach to the Sun expected around October 2025. Early detection allows for extended study, offering a rare opportunity to analyze material from another star system. Scientists believe these icy bodies are formed in distant planetary systems and ejected into interstellar space by gravitational interactions.