A Cosmic Visitor's Brief Hello

A rare guest from another star system is making a quick stop by Earth. This comet, named 3I/Atlas, is on a one-way trip through our solar system. It will be closest to our planet this week, but don't expect a close encounter. It's still very far away, about 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) distant. NASA is keeping a close eye on this icy traveler. They're using powerful telescopes to study it, but it's getting harder to see as it moves away. If you have a telescope at home, now's your chance to spot it in the night sky. This comet is on a journey that will take it near Jupiter next month. It will pass within 33 million miles (53 million kilometers) of the gas giant. But its final destination is far beyond our solar system. It won't be back until the mid-2030s, and even then, it won't stick around.3I/Atlas is the third interstellar object we've seen in our solar system. The first was spotted in 2017, and the second in 2019. Unlike comets like Halley's, which come from the edges of our solar system, these visitors come from other star systems in the Milky Way. Scientists think this comet might have come from a star system much older than ours. That makes it a fascinating subject for study. It's harmless, just passing through. The comet was first seen in July by NASA's Atlas telescope in Chile. This telescope is always on the lookout for potentially dangerous asteroids. But this time, it found something even more special.