CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has discovered an interstellar comet that’s wandered into our backyard.
The space agency spotted the quick-moving object with the sky-surveying Atlas telescope in Chile earlier this week, and confirmed it was a comet from another star system. It’s officially the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system and poses no threat to Earth.
The newest visitor is 416 million miles (670 million kilometers) from the sun, out near Jupiter. NASA said the comet will make its closest approach to the sun in October, scooting between the orbits of Mars and Earth – but closer to the red planet than us at a safe 150 million miles (240 million kilometers) away.
Astronomers around the world are monitoring the comet – an icy snowball officially designated 3I/Atlas – to determine its size and shape. It should be visible by telescopes through September, before it