NASA has released brand-new images of Interstellar comet 31/ATLAS, offering the most detailed and varied look yet at the mysterious interstellar visitor. The agency confirmed on Wednesday (Nov. 19) that 15 spacecraft, including the James Webb Space Telescope, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lucy, Psyche, Perseverance, and many others, have captured images and scientific data as the comet speeds through our solar system.
James Webb Space Telescope.

• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

• NASA Lucy Mission

Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, told reporters, “We’ve pushed our scientific instruments beyond what they were designed to achieve to capture this amazing glimpse of an interstellar traveler.”

A Comet—Not an Alien Craft

One of NASA’s top clarifications: 3I/ATLAS is a comet, not an alien vessel.

NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya emphasized:
“It looks and behaves like a comet, and all evidence points to it being a comet. But this one came from outside the solar system, which makes it fascinating and scientifically very important.”

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

Still, scientists remind the public that this is no ordinary object. It is, as Fox put it, “an ancient alien comet”—formed around a different star long before our solar system existed.

Unprecedented Observations from Mars and JWST

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured the closest early images, photographing the comet on Oct. 2 from just 19 million miles away.
HiRISE Camera

Kshatriya explained:
“You can see comet 3I/ATLAS as a fuzzy white ball. That ball is a cloud of dust and ice called the coma.”

Meanwhile, JWST and the SPHEREx telescope revealed the comet’s chemical fingerprint using infrared light. Scientists detected abundant carbon dioxide and water ice, along with thermal signatures invisible to the human eye.

Shawn Domagal-Goldman noted:
“It’s a rare opportunity to compare ancient dust from a distant solar system to that from our own.”

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A Strange Interstellar Chemistry

Comet 3I/ATLAS is unusual even beyond its origin. Scientists detected unexpected nickel vapor when the comet was far from the sun—at a distance where such vapor shouldn’t exist.

NASA lead scientist Tom Statler explained:
“It’s evaporating more carbon dioxide compared to water. That’s really interesting, really remarkable.”

Statler also noted:
“We’re finding that 3I/ATLAS is putting out more nickel than iron, for reasons not yet understood.”

A Spacecraft Tag-Team Across the Solar System

NASA’s fleet has provided a panoramic view of the comet:

• Psyche captured images from 33 million miles away
• Lucy photographed its tail from 40 million miles away
• MAVEN and ExoMars observed its Mars flyby
• SOHO, Parker Solar Probe, STEREO, PUNCH, and TESS all recorded distant views

“You do not get these views unless you have spacecraft farther from the sun than the comet,” Statler said.

NASA maintains a full mission list here:
https://www.nasa.gov/

Where Did Interstellar Comet 31/ATLAS Come From?

The comet’s origin remains unknown, but NASA believes it likely came from a star system older than our own.

Statler reflected:
“We can’t say for sure, but the likelihood is it came from a solar system older than ours, which gives me goosebumps.”