Stellar Peepshow: NASA Reveals Comet

NASA has announced an upcoming event to display exclusive images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, captured by its spacecraft and telescopes. The live event is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST on Wednesday, November 19, at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. This will allow the public and media to view the comet which was first identified on July 1 by the NASA-funded ATLAS observatory.

Comet 3I/ATLAS, which was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 21, 2025, shows a distinctive teardrop-shaped dust cocoon around its icy nucleus. The comet, now 277 million miles from Earth, is the third-known object to enter our solar system from another part of the galaxy. Although it poses no threat to our planet, it passed within 19 million miles of Mars this October.

The event will be broadcast across several platforms including NASA+, the NASA app, the agency’s website, YouTube, and Amazon Prime. Notable speakers such as NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya and Nicky Fox, the Science Mission Directorate’s associate administrator, will participate. The agency’s extensive capabilities allow it to monitor the comet almost continuously as it traverses our solar system, utilizing various spacecraft and ground-based observatories. For those interested in participating or asking questions remotely, contact details and procedures are provided by NASA’s media team. More information on comet 3I/ATLAS can be found on NASA’s dedicated webpage.