This rare interstellar comet is spewing massive amounts of water into space
A rare comet named 31/ATLAS was first discovered on July 1, 2025, and is located about 420 million miles away from Earth.
FILE: Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by Rubin Observatory
The recently discovered interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was spotted by the new NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
Space lovers have more news to jump for joy about, as recent discoveries of an interstellar invader have revealed something marvelous.
A comet named 31/ATLAS was first discovered on July 1, 2025, and is located about 420 million miles away from Earth, according to NASA.
Thankfully, the comet poses no threat to Earth and will remain at least 1.6 astronomical units (about 150 million miles) away.
According to the European Space Agency, the comet comes from outside our solar system and is only the third of its kind ever to be observed.
As of late, the comet has been observed by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope, which has been spraying tremendous amounts of water into space.
New image of the comet 3I/ATLAS from the Hubble Telescope (NASA)
According to experts at Space.com, the comet spews enough water to fill 70 Olympic swimming pools into space every day.
During observations by the European Space Agency, they discovered infrared emissions from water vapor and carbon dioxide molecules.
The estimated outflow of water vapor from the nucleus of the comet is about two tons per second, according to Giuseppe Piccioni of the National Institute for Astrophysics.
The shape and behavior of the interstellar object indicate that it is a comet, an icy object releasing dust and gas into space. These are important because they are so foreign and alien compared to the worlds of our own.
Comet 3I/ATLAS streaks across a dense star field in this image captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South at Cerro Pachón in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab. This image is composed of exposures taken through four filters — red, green, blue and ultraviolet. As exposures are taken, the comet remains fixed in the center of the telescope’s field of view. However, the positions of the background stars change relative to the comet, causing them to appear as colorful streaks in the final image. (International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist / FOX Weather)
The initial observations of the comet, which began in 2025, were followed by an extensive wait for the data analysis to reach Earth.
Through time, officials will gain more knowledge about these large space rocks.
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These objects carry clues about the formation of worlds far beyond our own galaxy, waiting to be discovered.