NASA space telescope sees interstellar visitor comet 3I/ATLAS flare up while exiting the solar system
NASA's SPHEREx captured these infrared observations during a December 2025 campaign, revealing dust, water, organic molecules and carbon dioxide in comet 3I/ATLAS's coma.(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)New infrared observations reveal the rare interstellar visitor comet 3I/ATLAS dramatically brightening during its farewell tour of the solar system.
NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) space telescope captured views in December 2025 of the comet releasing a surge of gas, dust and complex molecules two months after the object's closest approach to the sun — a surprising outburst that's giving scientists their clearest chemical look yet at material formed around another star, according to a statement from NASA."Comet 3I/ATLAS was full-on erupting into space in December 2025, after its close flyby of the sun, causing it to significantly brighten," Carey Lisse, lead...
