As 3I/ATLAS starts its long, lonely journey into the cold depths of interstellar space, it leaves behind a trail of data that has set the scientific world on fire. This celestial nomad is the third confirmed visitor from another star system, and it has turned out to be anything but ordinary.
'Oumuamua and Borisov were strange enough, but 3I/ATLAS has given us a geometric puzzle that is hard to explain: three perfectly symmetrical jets that have made even the most stoic astronomers look twice. When the comet reached its closest point to the Sun on Oct. 29, 2025, it was moving at an incredible 68 kilometers per second.
