Comet 3I/Atlas: Still Unnamed & Other Musings

The Sky Live

The first Interstellar Object (ISO) was christened Oumuamua; the second one, Borisov. 

Since its official discovery on 1 July 2025, a good two months have already passed but this latest ISO has yet to be given a name apart from its scientific designation. This visitor has attracted so much attention because of its peculiar properties and yet it remains nameless.

Why is this so? It would be nice if someone studying this ISO volunteers a name.

Although there is still no agreement in the Scientific community about its size, there appears to be an eager attempt to drastically downplay its initial estimations ~ from a diameter of 20km (12 miles) to just a few hundred metres, although 5.6km seems to be quoted often. I've even seen Nasa reporting its estimated size by using radius instead of diameter.

I am not at all an expert on Comets and their related scientific properties, but it's obvious that 3I/Atlas' "bizarre" (they've used this term) makeup and behaviour are confusing the experts so they are trying to shoehorn this visitor into known parameter boxes.

And finally, I can't help but wonder what would happen if this visitor starts to steer away from its projected trajectory....

Namarie! 💛 

Comet 3I/Atlas' Trajectory Animation....& More

The Sky Live

 

I've lost count how many times I watched this animation 😄 Why didn't I find this earlier? I've converted it into a gif for reference, but please visit The Sky Live where you'll be able to set the dates as well as pause and play, and of course, read the article.

Look at how close it gets to Mars and Jupiter, its trajectory seemingly predetermined. There's also a link in the article to the 3D animation here.  It's mind-boggling to see that 3I/Atlas is basically traversing the Solar System almost on the ecliptic plane along with the other Planets, even though it's not gravitationally bound to our Sun, plus the fact that our Sun is at the same time moving through Space.

We've not been getting much Earth-facing strong Solar activity for some time now but as per my earlier post, our Sun is still very active in other parts of the Solar System. I feel that 3I/Atlas will have some effect on our Sun as it approaches nearer in the days to come.

With its estimated size (still under debate with Scientists but generally agree that it's "large"), imagine the amount of Cosmic Plasma and its inherent "data" that 3I/Atlas is carrying. There's some serious upgrading happening here.

Having said all that, I will end by stating that of course, this is all my opinion only.

Namarie! 🤍 

Comet 3I/Atlas Update: 21 August 2025

SpaceWeather

 SpaceWeather has an interesting update on Comet 3I/Atlas:

The tail of 3I/ATLAS points almost straight toward the sun. Normally, comet dust tails are pushed away from the sun by radiation pressure. 3I/ATLAS is doing the opposite—it's backwards. 

Please read the rest of the report here.

 

There's also an article suggesting that 3I/Atlas is producing its own light, as per the very same Avi Loeb:

In the blog post, Loeb looks to the recent Hubble Space Telescope image of 3I/ATLAS.

"The image shows a glow of light, likely from a coma, ahead of the motion of 3I/ATLAS towards the Sun. There is no evidence for a bright cometary tail in the opposite direction," he writes.

"This glow was interpreted as evaporation of dust from the Sun-facing side of 3I/ATLAS."

After analysis of the light emitted by 3I/ATLAS, as described in a science paper published on 20 August 2025, Loeb then writes:

"The simplest interpretation is that the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS produces most of the light."

For more details, please visit Sky At Night Magazine.

Comet 3I/Atlas Update: 2 August 2025

SpaceWeather

Thanks to Gerald Rhemann & Michael Jäger, we have the above clip of 3I/Atlas taken on 30 July 2025, which shows a clearer depiction as it gains brightness.

More details at SpaceWeather.

Namarie! 💚

3I/Atlas: A Comet Or Something More? ~ Star Walk ~ 28 July 2025

Star Walk

 

Another 3I/Atlas post. This one is from Star Walk, outlining 3I/Atlas' intriguing characteristics and statistics, its "suspicious" trajectory, and accompanied by no less than X-Files' theme 😄

Watch the video clip here: 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/924831753166384

Namarie! 💖

 

3I/Atlas Update ~ 22 July 2025

The colors in the new image were the results of different filters being used to image the comet's coma. (Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/K. Meech (IfA/U. Hawaii)Image Processing: Jen Miller & Mahdi Zamani (NSF NOIRLab))

Link: LiveScience 

It's been a while since I checked in on the news to see if there was any update about Comet 3I/Atlas ~ that was what I was thinking last night as I was finishing up my post. It was already very late so I told myself I would do that the next day, and that's today.

In a happy act of Synchronicity, SpaceWeather.com had an update about 3I/Atlas! I had to nudge my lower jaw back into place when I read the article they had featured ~ after the massive fightback by "experts" to "debunk" speculations about Oumuamua (that it's an extra-terrestrial craft or device from an advanced civilisation) I did not expect SpaceWeather to be (albeit guardedly) featuring research that suggests 3I/Atlas has intelligent design and purpose instead of being a mere Comet, interstellar or otherwise.

Please read SpaceWeather's summary of Avi Loeb & Colleagues' research here:

https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=22&month=07&year=2025

This is the same Avi Loeb who also said Oumuamua wasn't a comet ~ most of his fellow Scientists did not agree and proceeded to thoroughly debunk his theories.

I am far from an expert on such matters, but simple logic suggests to me that a "comet" of this size (24 km) and zipping across Space at over 60km/sec (216,000km/hr) may be on some sort of important mission. When it comes to Comets, I always ask about its payload. Of course I would also like to know who sent them 😁

Its trajectory looks like an intentional avoidance of colliding with Mars:

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/3i-atlas/

 

Recent research also implied that this is the oldest Comet we've seen:

https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/astronomers-say-new-interstellar-visitor-3i-atlas-is-very-likely-to-be-the-oldest-comet-we-have-ever-seen

 

Let's keep track. Namarie! 💜

P/S. I referred to this in my previous post about 3I/Atlas and I'll bring it up again here ~ Strange New Worlds: Children of the Comet. Brilliant story.

Comet 3I/Atlas: Videos

SciNews

SciNews has pulled together some details about 3I/Atlas in video form:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt-BXrI7wGI

 

Here's a short clip of the Comet whizzing through our Solar System:

Space.com

I don't know why but I'm so chuffed seeing this video....

Namarie! 💛

Comet 3I/ATLAS ~ Our Third Interstellar Visitor

SpaceWeather

An approaching object that was just discovered on 1 June has now been identified as an interstellar comet. Named Comet 3I/Atlas (3I for "third interstellar"), research revealed that this object first appeared in telescope observations in mid-June but went unnoticed then.

The mysterious Oumuamua was "officially" our first interstellar visitor with Borisov being the second. Initial estimates place the size of this Comet 3I/Atlas at about 20km (!) and travelling at a high speed of 68 km/second. As I was reading some of the reports of this new Comet, I can't believe that it's been 8 years since Oumuamua's visit (2017) ~ it seems like just a couple of years ago.

The first two interstellar Comets measured only 0.5 and 1km respectively (reports vary), so the mind boggles with this one being 20km! Perihelion is at end-October, when it comes close to Mars:

Space.com

I still can't understand how it is that Oumuamua was (officially) our first interstellar visitor. Were there others that we haven't been told about? Or is it because the technology wasn't able to differentiate local Comets from interstellar ones? 

If there weren't any interstellar visitors in all the years prior to 2017, why are we now getting three in 8 years? (Again, I highlight the size of this one....20km.)

And of course, my usual question when it comes to Comets ~ especially interstellar ones ~ what is the payload?

For more details, here are some links:

https://www.space.com/astronomy/comets/new-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-is-hurtling-through-the-solar-system-and-you-can-watch-it-live-online-today

https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=03&month=07&year=2025

https://earthsky.org/space/new-interstellar-object-candidate-heading-toward-the-sun-a11pl3z/ 

 

As a side note ~ and I kid you not ~ I just re-watched an episode of Strange New Worlds yesterday (prepping for Season 3 in a couple of weeks) titled "Children of the Comet". Then I read about 3I/Atlas earlier today....

Namarie! 💗

Another Comet: Sungrazer A11bP7I

Source: Space.com

There’s a brand new comet in the sky! No, not Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. And like the incredibly bright Comet Ikeya–Seki (above) in 1965, the new one is what’s called a sungrazer comet. How bright will it get? 

Image via NASA/ Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

 

It's all happening! October is looking like a very "celestial" month indeed.

This one hasn't been named yet as it was just discovered on 27 September 2024. We should be getting some interesting footage of this Sungrazer when it orbits around our Sun.

It is expected to be so bright that we could even see it in daylight! There's more information about this Sungrazer at Universe Magazine:

https://universemagazine.com/en/the-second-october-comet/

Whenever a comet visits our skies, I often wonder what payload they carry....

Namarie! 💛

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS & Mini Moon

Source: LiveScience

After months of anticipation, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be visible in the predawn sky starting this week 

(Image credit: Wladimir Bulgar / Science Photo Library via Getty Images)

 

 

Called "Comet of the Year" (some say century), C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is currently putting on a dazzling display for Skywatchers. Please head to StarWalk for the report. LiveScience also has a good write-up about this Comet.

At the same time, also from LiveScience:

On Sunday, Sept. 29, Earth captured a new "minimoon" called 2024 PT5. The bus-size asteroid is expected to orbit our planet for 57 days, but is too small to be visible to amateur skywatchers.

Source: LiveScience

An illustration of a small asteroid orbiting the Earth. 

Our planet just acquired a new "minimoon" called 2024 PT5  

(Image credit: Getty Images)

 

I don't really know what these celestial events mean in terms of Cosmic purpose, but it's long been my belief that they are not totally random occurrences devoid of any meaning, especially during our current Ascension Timeline. Am I reading too much into this? Perhaps 😄....

Namarie! 💜

3 Comets & 3 Norths

Ordnance Survey

There's so much going on this month, both energetically as well as in the physical realm. I meant to post this earlier but just couldn't get to it until now. 

So, apart from the crowded happenings earlier in November, we also had two other events going on, the first of which is the first-in-history (at least in publicly-known history) where true North, magnetic North and grid North aligned together at a single point in Great Britain. Here for more details.

This is especially interesting and brings up so many questions, and I have none of the answers. Seeing as Earth Mum is in the gradual process of righting her tilted axis, this alignment makes it all the more intriguing and is no doubt having an even more intense effect on the weakening magnetosphere, which is not organic to our Planet.

And then we have these three comets in just 4 days! When I was reading about, it just seemed so obvious that something Cosmic was unfolding according to some plan. Again, I know nothing of this plan 😄 but I'm quite sure that it's integral to the Ascension phase we are in.

Solar Observer has an image of the latest one as it makes its way Sun-ward:

Solar Observer

And here's the video.

I don't have an image of the 2nd comet, but here's one of the 3rd comet:

Solar Observer