NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a new, deeper image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on November 30 using the Wide Field Camera 3, while the object speeds through the solar system at remarkable velocity.

The latest Hubble image places 3I/ATLAS about 178 million miles from Earth, with the comet appearing near the image center as background stars streak due to its rapid motion.

Officials note that the interstellar visitor will eventually vanish back into interstellar space as it continues its journey beyond the solar system.

Its extreme speed suggests it has undergone multiple gravitational slingshots around stars and planets, implying it is likely billions of years old and perhaps formed far in the galaxy.

3I/ATLAS is on a trajectory that will skim the inner solar system and then depart outward; a future return, if any, would occur thousands of years from now.

Ongoing observations of 3I/ATLAS continue to yield valuable insights into how interstellar objects travel through and interact with our solar system.

3I/ATLAS was first detected in the summer of 2025 by the ATLAS survey in Chile and confirmed as interstellar due to its high velocity and hyperbolic path.

The Wide Field Camera 3 provides a panchromatic view, enhancing the study of fast-moving objects, distant galaxies, and exoplanets as researchers track such phenomena.

The effort involves collaboration among NASA, ESA, and STScI, with scientists like D. Jewitt and M.-T. Hui contributing to data interpretation from Hubble and other observatories.

3I/ATLAS is the fastest interstellar object on record, traveling around 130,000 miles per hour and first detected in July, with NASA and astronomers continuing to study it.

The comet follows a hyperbolic trajectory, meaning it is not gravitationally bound to the Sun and poses no threat to Earth.

Current observations place 3I/ATLAS about 178 million miles from Earth, with officials estimating it will not come closer than roughly 170 million miles.

Researchers and multiple NASA missions plan to continue observing 3I/ATLAS for several more months to deepen our understanding of this interstellar visitor.

In the latest image, 3I/ATLAS sits at the center while distant stars appear blurred, illustrating the comet’s rapid movement across the field.

Hubble imagery also shows background stars streaking as the comet sweeps by, highlighting its swift relative motion.