Interstellar Visitor 3I/ATLAS Now Past the Sun, Scientists Baffled by Blue-Light Anomaly
By Sarah Mckenna
November 5, 2025 — The third confirmed visitor from beyond our solar system, Comet 3I/ATLAS, has successfully passed its closest point to the Sun (perihelion) and is now on its way out of the inner solar system, leaving behind a trail of scientific mystery and mounting public speculation.
Discovered on July 1, 2025, by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope, the object is confirmed to be an interstellar comet, traveling on a hyperbolic trajectory that ensures it will never return to our Sun’s domain. Its perihelion occurred just inside Mars’ orbit on October 29, and its closest approach to Earth will be a distant 270 million kilometers (1.8 Astronomical Units) on December 19, posing absolutely no threat to our planet.
As of today, November 5, the comet is in the difficult-to-observe region behind the Sun from our Earthly perspective, but new data is fueling a controversy that goes beyond routine astronomy. Reports from solar observatories and data analysis by labs like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) suggest the object underwent an unexpected, rapid brightening and displayed an intense blue light spectrum shortly after perihelion—a deviation that challenges conventional cometary models. Some analysts have also noted a slight non-gravitational drift, a phenomenon that has reignited theories, most prominently by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, suggesting the object may be an engineered artifact rather than a natural body.
NASA’s official position, initially defining 3I/ATLAS as a scientifically invaluable natural comet, has recently been characterized by an unusual silence. While the agency has confirmed the comet’s interstellar, non-threatening path, it has held back from releasing new data or issuing an official statement regarding the “blue-light anomaly” or the reported trajectory deviation for over a month. This reticence has only intensified academic and public calls for transparency.
The European Space Agency (ESA), however, remains active. Having used its Mars-orbiting spacecraft, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express, to observe the comet as it passed Mars in early October, ESA is now preparing its deep-space probe JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) to attempt high-resolution imaging between November 2 and 25. This effort is expected to capture the first deep-space views of 3I/ATLAS in its most active state. ESA has otherwise dismissed any suggestion of sending a dedicated mission due to the comet’s extreme speed, but views the object as a premier target for studying material from another star system.
Neither the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) nor the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has released major, standalone official statements that contradict the international consensus on the object’s classification or trajectory. While their respective national observatories are presumed to be contributing data to the global network, there has been no official communication from Moscow or Beijing on the recent anomalies, leaving the scientific discourse centered on data from Western and partner institutions.
The comet is expected to re-emerge for telescopic observation in the pre-dawn eastern sky around November 11, offering Earth-based astronomers a crucial second window to observe the distant interloper as it accelerates on its permanent journey out of our solar system.
