NASA has confirmed that Comet 3I/ATLAS — a rare interstellar visitor currently racing through the solar system at a remarkable 61 kilometres per second — poses absolutely no threat to Earth.
The celestial body, first detected on July 1, 2025, by the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, is the third known interstellar object ever discovered, following ‘Oumuamua’ in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
The “I” in its name stands for “interstellar,” while “3” denotes its position as the third such known object.
According to NASA, the comet is currently travelling at around 137,000 miles per hour (221,000 km/h), and will gain even more speed as it moves closer to the Sun.
It is expected to reach its perihelion — or closest point to the Sun — on October 30, when it will come within about 210 million kilometres, just inside the orbit of Mars.
Despite its immense velocity, scientists assure that Comet 3I/ATLAS will remain safely distant from our planet.
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“The comet will not approach Earth any closer than 1.8 astronomical units, or roughly 270 million kilometres,” NASA stated.
The space agency continues to track the interstellar traveller using advanced observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and SPHEREx.
After passing behind the Sun later this month, the comet will continue its journey beyond Jupiter by March 2026, eventually exiting the solar system — marking another fleeting encounter with a visitor from the depths of interstellar space.
