On Friday (Dec. 19), the interstellar invader, comet 3I/ATLAS, made its closest approach to Earth, coming to within 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) of our planet at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT).

This summer, scientists spotted an incredibly rare visitor to Earth’s solar system—a comet, now known as 3I/ATLAS, that entered our solar system from the galaxy beyond and is zipping past the sun at a ...

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was the third object ever discovered in our solar system that originated from another star system. Despite a viral conspiracy theory, NASA officials have repeatedly ...

THE SPACE COMMUNITY RECENTLY. AN INTERSTELLAR COMET THAT BEGAN OUTSIDE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM HAS JUST MADE ITS CLOSEST PASS OF THE SUN. THAT’S RIGHT. SO ASTRONOMERS HAVE OBSERVED THE COMET SINCE JULY, BUT ...