Suppose the galaxy’s oldest secrets were readable not in the glare of faraway stars, but in a brief, cold visitor whizzing past our solar system? The passage of 3I/ATLAS, the third confirmed interstellar object ever seen,

How do we know 3I/ATLAS, also called comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), is interstellar? Will it strike Earth? Can we visit it? Here are all of your questions answered.

A team of international astronomers, including a University of Michigan doctoral student, were the first to publish the discovery of just the third known interstellar object to visit our solar system on July 3.