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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Will Fly by Earth Friday. Here Are the Latest Images
Comet 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object discovered, will pass 167 million miles from Earth, allowing astronomers to analyze its chemical makeup through spring 2026.
- On Friday, Comet 3I/ATLAS will pass closest to Earth at 167 million miles, marking the third interstellar discovery by the ATLAS telescope .
- Because it formed outside our galaxy, Comet 3I/ATLAS is a rare interstellar visitor that the astronomy community has tracked since its initial discovery over the summer.
- Multiwavelength data from missions including European Space Agency's XMM-Newton showed Japan's X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission detected X-rays fanning out 248,000 miles and signatures of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.
- Officials emphasized the comet is 100% not posing a threat and will remain distant; skywatchers are advised to view it an hour or two before sunrise with an 8-inch telescope, while the Virtual Telescope Project will livestream it at 4:00 a.m. UTC on Friday.
- Kohler warned that unlike comets, this object will not return to our solar system, and previous interstellar comets from 2017 and 2019 produced no X-rays, so more X-ray and multiwavelength observing missions are needed.
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Watch comet/alien spacecraft 3I/ATLAS make its closest approach to Earth
3I/ATLAS is definitely a comet, not an alien spacecraft, but it is only the third confirmed interstellar object detected in our solar system, and may be as much as 7 billion years old, so it is still pretty cool and worth checking out. — Read the rest The post Watch comet/alien spacecraft 3I/ATLAS make its closest approach to Earth appeared first on Boing Boing.
·United States
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3I/ATLAS passing closest to Earth on Friday
Ever since 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object was discovered on July 1, 2025, by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), scientists and the public have been fascinated by it. Is it a comet? Or something else?
·United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources21
Leaning Left4Leaning Right1Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution59% Center
Bias Distribution
- 59% of the sources are Center
59% Center
L 33%
C 59%
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