Where is 3I/ATLAS now? How to track interstellar comet as it nears Earth

• The comet originated from outside our solar system and poses no danger to our planet.
• NASA officials have rejected theories that the object could be an alien spaceship.
• While not visible to the naked eye, the comet can be seen with a small telescope.

The mystifying 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet is blazing toward Earth and will in a matter of days come as close to our planet as it ever will.

The impending cosmic rendezvous – if you want to call it that, since 3I/ATLAS will still be pretty far away – has been anticipated for months ever since the strange visitor was first spotted in Earth's neighborhood. Since its discovery in our solar system in July, 3I/ATLAS has passed within the orbit of Mars and come within 130 million miles of the sun.

Now, the ancient space object is due to approach Earth – offering the world's scientists an unprecedented opportunity to study a comet that formed in an entirely different part of our Milky Way. Of course, the public may also have an interest in spotting the object that many sincerely believe could be an alien spaceship.

Want to know how you can track and glimpse 3I/ATLAS as it comes near Earth? Here's everything to know.

What is 3I/ATLAS? Why scientists say it's an interstellar comet

The object known as 3I/ATLAS made news in July 2025 when it was confirmed to be the third object ever discovered originating outside Earth's solar system. When it was spotted, 3I/ATLAS was traveling 137,000 mph, 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 possibly 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.

Though 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. But data from the Hubble Space Telescope helped astronomers estimate the size of the comet’s solid, icy nucleus as anywhere from about 1,400 feet to 3½ miles in diameter.

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

Are there photos of 3I/ATLAS? See all NASA images of comet

On Nov. 19, NASA released a trove of never-before-seen images of 3I/ATLAS that revealed new characteristics of the object.

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

Will 3I/ATLAS hit Earth? How close will it get?

The comet, which is not a danger to Earth, is projected to pass within about 170 million miles of our planet Dec. 19. That's nearly twice the distance of Earth to the sun and more than 700 times the distance of Earth to the moon.

Will you be able to see 3I/ATLAS from Earth? Where is it now?

Though 3I/ATLAS is not visible to the naked eye, viewers with even a small telescope can observe the comet in the predawn sky until spring 2026, according to NASA.

During the comet's closest approach to Earth, skywatchers looking east to northeast could catch the comet right under the star Regulus – one of the brightest stars visible to Earth – in the constellation Leo, according to NASA's December skywatching guide.

The agency's online simulation Eyes on the Solar System shows the location and path of 3I/ATLAS as it moves through our solar system.

"Look for observatories and skywatching events in your local area," Chelsea Gohd, a science communicator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, explained in a video.

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

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

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 the 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 authorities, though, have sought 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 at a news conference in November, 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."

Hubble, James Webb among fleet of instruments to study comet

Scientists who are eager to study planetary material that formed from another star have for months trained ground and space telescopes on 3I/ATLAS. The Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope have returned images and data from the comet.

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 appear as streaks of light, NASA said.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]