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Space
Space
Science
Samantha Mathewson

NASA space telescope sees interstellar visitor comet 3I/ATLAS flare up while exiting the solar system

NASA Solar System
Two images side by side, the one on the left shows a large glowing ball of light in red near a bunch of glowing red dots, with the image on the left being the same image but in blue.

New infrared observations reveal the rare interstellar visitor comet 3I/ATLAS dramatically brightening during its farewell tour of the solar system.

NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) space telescope captured views in December 2025 of the comet releasing a surge of gas, dust and complex molecules two months after the object's closest approach to the sun — a surprising outburst that's giving scientists their clearest chemical look yet at material formed around another star, according to a statement from NASA.

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