3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar visitor
The account
Yet another object from another star, behaving strangely, that could be the technology of another civilization.
What investigators found
Astronomers classify it as an interstellar comet, with a typical tail and gases. It is being studied as a sample from another solar system.
The story
On July 1, 2025, the ATLAS telescope in Chile detected an object coming from outside the Solar System. It was the third confirmed interstellar visitor, after ʻOumuamua and comet Borisov, and it was named 3I/ATLAS.
Unlike ʻOumuamua, it showed cometary activity, with a cloud of gas and dust. It made its closest approach to the Sun in late October 2025. Astronomer Avi Loeb raised the hypothesis that it might be artificial, but most scientists treat it as a natural comet. For them, it is a rare chance to study a piece of another solar system.