\u201cWe were quick to be able to say, \u2018Yep, it definitely behaves like a comet.\u2019 We certainly haven\u2019t seen any techno-signatures or anything from it that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a comet. But the super cool thing is not that it\u2019s exactly like all the comets that we see in our solar system. It\u2019s the differences that are so tantalizing,\u201d Fox said. \u201cIt could be from something that existed before our own solar system \u2014 that is so cool. It\u2019s from something that predates even our own star. Yep, it\u2019s going to look different because it didn\u2019t come from our solar system, and that\u2019s what makes it so magical. You want to geek out a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. government has grappled with questions about the nature and origin of the interstellar comet and its baffling trajectory since it was first spotted in July by NASA\u2019s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Chile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But inquiries and concerns intensified<\/a> when the space agency delayed its public data and imagery dissemination amid the record-breaking government shutdown that stretched from Oct. 1 to mid-November.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m actually very excited that a lot of the world was speculating about the comet while NASA was in a period where we couldn\u2019t speak about it due to the recent government shutdown,\u201d the agency\u2019s Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said. \u201cWhat I took away from that whole experience, and watching that as we were working during the shutdown, was just how interested and how excited people were about the possibility of what this comet could be.\u201d<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s assets that are conducting observations<\/a> of 3I\/ATLAS include: Hubble, Webb, TESS, Swift, SPHEREx, Perseverance Mars rover, MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN), Europa Clipper, Lucy, Psyche, Parker Solar Probe, PUNCH, and ESA\/NASA\u2019s SOHO.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we\u2019re still going \u2014 there will be more opportunities to observe this comet as it continues its journey through the solar system, passing the orbit of Jupiter in spring of 2026,\u201d Fox said at Wednesday\u2019s post-shutdown briefing<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Thursday, NASA\u2019s Acting Planetary Defense Officer Kelly Fast told DefenseScoop that \u2014 although 3I\/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object of its kind to be recorded \u2014 her team expects to see upward trends in these rare objects being reported in the years to come.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screen-Shot-2025-11-20-at-4.39.22-PM.png\")
The interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS, circled in the center, as seen by the L\u2019LORRI panchromatic, or black-and-white, imager on NASA\u2019s Lucy spacecraft. This image was made by stacking a series of images taken on Sept. 16, 2025, as the comet was zooming toward Mars.\u00a0
(Image credit: NASA\/Goddard\/SwRI\/JHU-APL)<\/p>\n
![\"Brandi](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Image-from-iOS-2-e1662581202907.jpg\")
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