Farewell, 3I/ATLAS: our last public, online observation – 16 Jan. 2026. – YouTube
Tune in today (Jan. 16) to bid farewell to interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, courtesy of a livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project featuring live views of the enigmatic visitor as it continues its one-way journey out of our solar system.
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An image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS captured by a robotic telescope belonging to the Virtual Telescope Project on Jan. 11, 2026. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi, Virtual Telescope Project.)
3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1, 2025 and was quickly confirmed to be just the third interstellar object to visit our solar system based on an analysis of its trajectory, which proved that it was not gravitationally bound to our parent star. The alien comet made its closest approach to the sun on Oct. 29 during an event called perihelion, prior to which it had brightened more than had been expected by scientists.
The comet was hidden from view in the weeks surrounding perihelion, as it passed on the far side of the sun relative to Earth. 3I/ATLAS later made its closest approach to our Blue Marble on Dec. 19, when it passed 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) from our planet. Its next milestone will involve a much closer pass of Jupiter in March later this year, when it will buzz the gas giant at a distance of approximately 33.4 million miles (53.7 million km).
Following this final planetary flyby, 3I/ATLAS will embark on a silent journey lasting several thousand years as it coasts beyond the orbit of the outermost icy planets, before careening through the icy shell of the Oort cloud to return to the cold embrace of interstellar space.