3I/ATLAS: Interstellar visitor back again? Hubble image, times to spot – all you need to know

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The new Hubble image shows a compact, bright nucleus wrapped in clouds of gas and dust, which is called the coma

3I/ATLAS: Interstellar visitor back again? Hubble image, times to spot – all you need to know

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is once again back in the spotlight after NASA released a fresh image from the Hubble Space Telescope, taken on November 30. The new photo has confirmed that the comet is still active after sweeping past the Sun—and it also helps astronomers refine its path through the inner solar system.

3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed interstellar object ever observed. Each new glimpse gives scientists the scope to study what icy bodies from another star system are made of, how they behave near the Sun, and how their chemistry stacks up against comets formed around our own star.

3I/ATLAS spotting: Key Points to know

The Perihelion - which is the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is closest to the sun was measured to be about 1.4 AU (just inside Mars’ orbit)

Where it is now: As per reports, the 3I/ATLAS comet has been moving away from the Sun, laying around hundreds of millions of kilometers from Earth

Closest approach to Earth: Around December 19

What does the Hubble image show?

The new Hubble image shows a compact, bright nucleus wrapped in a soft, slightly lopsided coma. Background stars appear as streaks because Hubble tracked the comet’s motion—another sign that 3I/ATLAS is still active well after its solar flyby.

It wasn't just Hubble. According to a report by El-Balad, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft had captured multispectral snapshots in September, helping refine the comet’s trajectory and revealing details of its faint outer coma.

In Europe, ESA missions have chipped in too—JUICE’s navigation camera, for instance, picked up additional signs of activity as the comet brightened this season.

Together, these observations—from deep space and Earth orbit—give researchers the most complete picture yet of 3I/ATLAS and allow ground-based observatories to track it more accurately.

When can you see 3I/ATLAS?

3I/ATLAS would not be visible to the naked eye, but dedicated sky watchers still have a chance to catch it with a telescope. The best opportunity to spot the comet would be mid-to-late December, with the comet highest in the pre-dawn sky.