We have mapped the farthest corners of the Earth, but now we are facing a cosmic intruder. Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS didn't just float through the Sun's area like a normal comet. It tore through our neighbourhood like a bullet fired from the deep dark.
Since it was found in July 2025, it has gone against all expectations for solar system debris, making it something completely different. The NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile first saw the object on July 1, 2025. At first, it was thought to be a faint speck in the constellation Sagittarius that was already moving at an incredible 137,000 miles per hour.
