Astronomers are rolling out a welcome mat for a newly identified visitor from beyond our solar system.

The object — thought to be a comet — is only the third-ever confirmed interstellar visitor to pass through our cosmic neighborhood.

Dubbed 3I/ATLAS, the comet poses no danger to Earth and will remain roughly 150 million miles away as it speeds by, according to NASA.

NBC reported the interstellar comet was first spotted Tuesday by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Rio Hurtado, Chile. The NASA-funded survey telescope — which is actually made up of two telescopes in Hawaii, one in Chile and a fourth in South Africa — is designed to scan the entire sky several times each night, searching for asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth.

Researchers combed through archival data from three different ATLAS telescopes and the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, and they found corresponding observations that helped confirm the discovery. Other telescopes around the world also joined the effort, according to NASA.

Story Date: July 7, 2025