NASA's Hubble telescope gets another look at 3I/ATLAS. Here's what it found

NASA's Hubble telescope gets another look at 3I/ATLAS. Here's what it found

Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY

Mon, December 8, 2025 at 2:08 PM UTC

5 min read

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope caught a glimpse of 3I/ATLAS – again.

The interstellar comet, which is hurtling through space on a path that will soon see it whizzing by Earth in December, recently found itself in the sights of Hubble. The iconic observatory, launched into orbit in 1990, first spotted 3I/ATLAS in July shortly after the object was spotted in Earth's solar system after coming from elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy.

For months, 3I/ATLAS has attracted plenty of attention – and become the source of bizarre alien spaceship conspiracies – as it visits our cosmic neighborhood on a journey that will one day take it beyond our sights forever.

The multi-colored tracks of asteroids flash on and off in this image of two spiral galaxies within the Virgo Cluster. Each of these tracks represents a moving asteroid detected by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in its first few nights of observations.

The open star cluster Bochum 14 as imaged by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

Aerial view of Vera C. Rubin Observatory located in Chile, taken Jan. 24, 2024. Surrounded by desert-like mountains and under the blue skies of northern Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will revolutionize the study of the universe when it incorporates the largest digital camera ever built in the world. (Photo by) (Photo by JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images)

Rubin Observatory stands on Cerro Pachón in Chile against a sky full of star trails in this long exposure night sky image.

Sunset at Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachón in Chile.

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory atop Cerro Pachón in Chile is outlined against the full Moon rising above the horizon. A trick of perspective has enlarged the Moon beyond the size we’d naturally see it on Earth. Rubin Observatory will begin science operations in late 2025.

This image captures not only Vera C. Rubin Observatory, but one of the celestial specimens Rubin Observatory will observe when it comes online: the Milky Way. The bright halo of gas and stars on the left side of the image highlights the very center of the Milky Way galaxy. The dark path that cuts through this center is known as the Great Rift, because it gives the appearance that the Milky Way has been split in half, right through its center and along its radial arms.

This image combines 678 separate images taken by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth.

This image captures a small section of NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s view of the Virgo Cluster, offering a vivid glimpse of the variety in the cosmos. Visible are two prominent spiral galaxies, three merging galaxies, galaxy groups both near and distant, stars within our own Milky Way, and much more.

Made from over 1100 images captured by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, this image contains an immense variety of objects. This includes about 10 million galaxies, roughly .05% of the approximately 20 billion galaxies Rubin Observatory will capture in the next decade.

This image captures a small section of NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s view of the Virgo Cluster, revealing both the grand scale and the faint details of this dynamic region of the cosmos. Bright stars from our own Milky Way shine in the foreground, while a sea of distant reddish galaxies speckle the background.

Vera C. Rubin Observatory reaches for the stars: Take a look

The multi-colored tracks of asteroids flash on and off in this image of two spiral galaxies within the Virgo Cluster. Each of these tracks represents a moving asteroid detected by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in its first few nights of observations.

Here's a look at Hubble's latest image of 3I/ATLAS, as well as what to know about a European orbiter's recent observations of the interstellar comet.

What is 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet?

The 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet is approaching Earth and will on Dec. 19 fly within 170 million miles of our planet.

An object known as 3I/ATLAS made news in July 2025 when it was confirmed to be the third-ever object discovered originating outside Earth's solar system. When it was spotted, 3I/ATLAS was whizzing at about 137,000 miles per hour, according to NASA.

Observations of 3I/ATLAS' speed and trajectory confirmed to astronomers that it formed in another star system and was ejected into interstellar space – the region between the stars, according to NASA. For potentially billions of years, the comet has drifted on a journey from the general direction of the constellation Sagittarius in the center of the Milky Way that recently brought it into our solar system.

Unlike comets bound to the sun's gravity, 3I/ATLAS is traveling on a hyperbolic orbit that will eventually carry it out of the solar system and back into interstellar space.

NASA's Hubble gets 2nd look at 3I/ATLAS

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed 3I/ATLAS Nov. 30, with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. The image was taken about four months after Hubble's first look at the interstellar comet.

The Hubble Space Telescope is just one of many NASA's instruments – including the James Webb Space Telescope – that has had its sights trained on 3I/ATLAS in the few months that the comet has been flying through our solar system.

Hubble's latest sighting of the interstellar object came Nov. 30, NASA said in a December blog post.

At the time, 3I/ATLAS was about 178 million miles from Earth. Because Hubble was tracking the comet as it moved across the sky, stars in the background of the image appear as streaks of light, NASA said.

Hubble's 1st observations of 3I/ATLAS helped determine size

Hubble first caught a glimpse of 3I/ATLAS in July shortly after the interstellar interloper was first discovered.

While astronomers don’t yet know exactly how big 3I/ATLAS could be, estimates range from a few hundred feet to a few miles across, according to the European Space Agency. What's more, Hubble's initial data helped astronomers estimate the size of the comet’s solid, icy nucleus as anywhere from about 1,400 feet to 3.5 miles wide.

ESA Jupiter orbiter also glimpses comet

During November 2025, The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) used five of its science instruments to observe 3I/ATLAS. Though the data from the science instruments won’t arrive on Earth until February 2026, the mission team downloaded this quarter of a single NavCam image to see what was in store.

A European Space Agency orbiter bound for Jupiter also recently spotted 3I/ATLAS.

The ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) observed the comet between Nov. 2 and Nov. 25 when 3I/ATLAS was in a "very active state" following its closest approach to the sun Oct. 30, according to the agency. Because the spacecraft is far from Earth on the other side of the sun, scientists don't expect to receive its observations until February, according to the ESA.

But the mission team was able to download a quarter of a single image from JUICE's navigation camera as the spacecraft travels to Jupiter by 2031. The image was taken Nov. 2, two days before JUICE's closest approach to the comet Nov. 4 at a distance of about 41million miles.

Signs of activity area clear in the image, including the comet's surrounding glowing halo of gas, known as its coma, and two distinct tails. One tail is composed of electrically charged gas stretching to the top of the frame, while the other, made of dust particles, stretches to the lower left of the image, the ESA said.

NASA releases photos of 3I/ATLAS comet

NASA on Nov. 19 released a trove of never-before-seen images of 3I/ATLAS unveiling new characteristics of the object.

A look at all of the photos NASA has released of 3I/ATLAS since its July discovery, including detailed explanations of each, are available below.

NASA’s Psyche mission acquired four observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS over the course of eight hours on Sept. 8 and 9, 2025, when the comet was about 33 million miles from the spacecraft. The data, captured by Psyche’s multispectral imager, is helping astronomers both refine the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS and learn more about the faint coma, or cloud of gas, surrounding its nucleus.

This image shows the observation of comet 3I/ATLAS when it was discovered on July 1, 2025. The NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile first reported that the comet originated from interstellar space.

A faint image of comet 3I/ATLAS as observed by ESA/NASA’s SOHO mission between Oct. 15-26, 2025. The comet appears as a slight brightening in the center of the image.

This image shows the halo of gas and dust, or coma, surrounding comet 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever detected by astronomers as it passes through our solar system. The image was taken on Oct. 9, 2025, by an instrument onboard NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, which has been studying Mars from its orbit since 2014. The instrument, the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph, takes pictures in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum to reveal the chemical composition of objects.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on Oct. 2, 2025. At the time it was imaged, the comet was about 19 million miles from the spacecraft.

An ultraviolet image composite of the hydrogen atoms surrounding comet 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever detected by astronomers, as it passes through our solar system. This image was taken on Sept. 28, just days before the comet’s closest approach to Mars - by an instrument on NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, which has been studying Mars from orbit since 2014.

Comet 3I/ATLAS appears as a bright object near the center of this image, made from combining observations from NASA’s PUNCH mission taken from Sept. 20 to Oct. 3, 2025, when the comet was about 231 million to 235 million miles from Earth. Its tail appears as a short elongation to the right. Stars appear as streaks in the background.

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, circled in the center, as seen by the L’LORRI panchromatic, or black-and-white, imager on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft. This image was made by stacking a series of images taken on Sept. 16, as the comet was zooming toward Mars. Lucy was 240 million miles away from 3I/ATLAS at the time making its way to explore eight asteroids that share an orbit with Jupiter.

This image shows the 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet as a bright, fuzzy orb in the center. Traveling through our solar system at 130,000 miles (209,000 kilometers) per hour, 3I/ATLAS was made visible by using a series of colorized stacked images from Sept. 11-25, using the Heliocentric Imager-1 (H1) instrument, a visible-light imager on the STEREO-A (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft. The colorization was applied to differentiate the image from other observing spacecraft images.

NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.

Hubble captured this image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. Hubble shows that the comet has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off its solid, icy nucleus.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS Aug. 6, with its Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument

NASA's fleet of telescopes, spacecraft glimpse 3I/ATLAS. See photos of interstellar comet

NASA’s Psyche mission acquired four observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS over the course of eight hours on Sept. 8 and 9, 2025, when the comet was about 33 million miles from the spacecraft. The data, captured by Psyche’s multispectral imager, is helping astronomers both refine the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS and learn more about the faint coma, or cloud of gas, surrounding its nucleus.

Where is 3I/ATLAS now? Will it be visible from Earth?

The comet 3I/ATLAS, which is not a threat to Earth, is projected to pass within about 170 million miles of our planet on Dec. 19 – or about twice the distance between Earth and the sun.

Though 3I/ATLAS is not visible to the naked eye, those with even a small telescope can observe the comet in the pre-dawn sky until spring 2026, according to NASA. The agency's "Eyes on the Solar System" online simulation shows the location and path of 3I/ATLAS as it moves through our solar system.

Is 3I/ATLAS an alien spaceship? NASA leaders reject conspiracy theory

The strange outsider's jaunt through Earth's cosmic neighborhood has sparked plenty of outlandish conspiracy theories regarding its nature.

One particularly infamous idea – put forth by a Harvard astrophysicist named Avi Loeb – is that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spaceship. Though Loeb has conceded on publishing platform Medium that the object is "most likely a comet of natural origin," he has not ruled out the possibility that it could be extraterrestrial technology.

NASA officials, though, have attempted to put that notion to rest.

In a social media exchange with reality TV star Kim Kardashian in October, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy affirmed: "No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth."

Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, also rejected the alien conspiracy theory during the agency's November news conference, saying "we certainly haven't seen any technosignatures or anything from it that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a comet."

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA's Hubble glimpses 3I/ATLAS again. See image of interstellar comet

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