Science USA TODAY Where is 3I/ATLAS now? How to track interstellar comet as it nears Earth

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The mystifying 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet is blazing toward Earth and will in a matter of days come as close to our planet as it ever will.

The impending cosmic rendezvous – if you want to call it that, since 3I/ATLAS will still be pretty far away – has been anticipated for months ever since the strange visitor was first spotted in Earth’s neighborhood. Since its July discovery in our solar system, 3I/ATLAS has passed within the orbit of Mars and come within 130 million miles of the sun.

Now, the ancient space object is due to come near Earth – offering the world’s scientists an unprecedented opportunity to study a comet that formed in an entirely different part of our Milky Way. Of course, the public may also have an interest in spotting the object that many sincerely believe could be an alien spaceship.

Want to know how you can track and glimpse 3I/ATLAS as it comes near Earth? Here’s everything to know.

3I/ATLAS: NASA’s Hubble telescope gets another look at interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

What is 3I/ATLAS? Why scientists say it’s an interstellar comet

An object known as 3I/ATLAS made news in July 2025 when it was confirmed to be the third-ever object discovered originating outside Earth’s solar system. When it was spotted, 3I/ATLAS was whizzing at about 137,000 miles per hour, according to NASA.

Observations of 3I/ATLAS’ speed and trajectory confirmed to astronomers that it formed in another star system and was ejected into interstellar space – the region between the stars, according to NASA. For potentially billions of years, the comet has drifted on a journey from the general direction of the constellation Sagittarius in the center of the Milky Way that recently brought it into our solar system.

While astronomers don’t yet know exactly how big 3I/ATLAS could be, estimates range from a few hundred feet to a few miles across, according to the European Space Agency. But data from the Hubble Space Telescope helped astronomers estimate the size of the comet’s solid, icy nucleus as anywhere from about 1,400 feet to 3.5 miles wide.

Unlike comets bound to the sun’s gravity, 3I/ATLAS is traveling on a hyperbolic orbit that will eventually carry it out of the solar system and back into interstellar space.

Are there photos of 3I/ATLAS? See all NASA images of comet

NASA on Nov. 19 released a trove of never-before-seen images of 3I/ATLAS unveiling new characteristics of the object.

A look at all of the photos NASA has released of 3I/ATLAS since its July discovery, including detailed explanations of each, are available below.

Will 3I/ATLAS hit Earth? How close will it get?

The comet 3I/ATLAS, which is not a danger to Earth, is projected to pass within about 170 million miles of our planet on Dec. 19.

That’s nearly twice the distance between Earth and the sun, and more than 700 times the distance between the Earth and the moon.

Will you be able to see 3I/ATLAS from Earth? Where is it now?

Though 3I/ATLAS is not visible to the naked eye, those with even a small telescope can observe the comet in the pre-dawn sky until spring 2026, according to NASA.

During the comet’s closest approach to Earth, skywatchers looking east to northeast could catch the comet right under the star Regulus – one of the brightest stars visible to Earth – in the constellation Leo, according to NASA’s December skywatching guide.

The agency’s “Eyes on the Solar System” online simulation shows the location and path of 3I/ATLAS as it moves through our solar system.

Is 3I/ATLAS an alien spaceship? NASA leaders reject extraterrestrial conspiracy

The strange outsider’s jaunt through Earth’s cosmic neighborhood has sparked plenty of outlandish conspiracy theories regarding its nature.

One particularly infamous idea – put forth by a Harvard astrophysicist named Avi Loeb – is that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spaceship. Though Loeb has conceded on publishing platform Medium that the object is “most likely a comet of natural origin,” he has not ruled out the possibility that it could be extraterrestrial technology.

NASA officials, though, have attempted to put that notion to rest.

In a social media exchange with reality TV star Kim Kardashian in October, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy affirmed: “No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth.”

Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, also rejected the alien conspiracy theory during the agency’s November news conference, saying “we certainly haven’t seen any technosignatures or anything from it that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a comet.”

Hubble, James Webb among fleet of instruments to study comet

Scientists, eager to study planetary material that formed from another star, have for months trained ground and space telescopes on 3I/ATLAS. A fleet of NASA space telescopes – including the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope – have returned images and data back to Earth gathered from glimpsing the comet.

Hubble’s latest sighting of the interstellar object came Nov. 30, NASA said in a December blog post.

At the time, 3I/ATLAS was about 178 million miles from Earth. Because Hubble was tracking the comet as it moved across the sky, stars in the background of the image appear as streaks of light, NASA said.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is 3I/ATLAS? How to watch as interstellar comet nears Earth