
NASA's planet-hunting TESS spacecraft recently caught a view of a very different kind of cosmic object: interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
During a special observation run from Jan. 15 to Jan. 22, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) repeatedly observed comet 3I/ATLAS as it headed out of our solar system. With its wide field of view, TESS recorded the comet as a bright, fast-moving dot dragging a faint tail across a crowded starfield.