NASA has doubled down on its conclusion that 3I/ATLAS is a comet, even as a growing group of scientists suggest the interstellar object may be far stranger than anything previously observed.
First detected on 1 July 2025 by the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile, 3I/ATLAS travels on a hyperbolic orbit at extraordinary speed, confirming that it originated outside the Solar System. But its unusual chemical make-up, erratic brightness and CO₂-rich coma have prompted debate about whether it fits neatly into known comet categories at all.
