3I/ATLAS Will Pass Closest to Earth in December: What to Know About the Interstellar Visitor

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Tracking resources include:

📡 NASA Image Archive

Newly released 3I/ATLAS images captured by NASA spacecraft (Nov. 19 release):
https://www.nasa.gov/images/

NASA described the new images as “a breakthrough in our understanding of interstellar comet chemistry and structure.”

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An Alien Spacecraft? NASA Says No

Despite its unusual origin, 31/ATLAS has inspired countless conspiracy theories — especially the claim by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb suggesting it might be extraterrestrial technology.

Loeb later clarified on Medium that the object is “most likely a comet of natural origin,” though he did not dismiss other possibilities entirely.

NASA leaders, however, flatly reject any alien-technology explanation.

During a November press conference, Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said:

“We certainly haven’t seen any technosignatures or anything from it that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a comet.”

Comet Moves Closest to Earth in December

Interstellar objects offer scientists a rare chance to study planetary systems beyond our own. Each one provides a frozen sample of material from other stars — material billions of years old.