NASA's Perseverance rover may have captured an image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during its recent close approach to Mars. The rover's Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) recorded a streak of light on October 4, 2025, a celestial event that has sparked scientific interest. Official confirmation from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is pending due to an ongoing U.S. government shutdown, but the timing and location of the observation strongly suggest it depicts comet 3I/ATLAS. The comet's closest approach to Mars occurred on October 3, 2025.
The U.S. government shutdown has temporarily hindered NASA's ability to provide immediate updates, although essential operations, including satellite monitoring, continue. Comet 3I/ATLAS, identified as the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, was discovered in 2019. It passed Mars at a distance of approximately 18.6 million miles (30 million kilometers). The comet's hyperbolic trajectory, indicative of an origin beyond our solar system, has captivated astronomers.
With an estimated speed of around 130,000 mph (approximately 210,000 km/h), comet 3I/ATLAS is believed to have been traversing interstellar space for billions of years. Earlier observations by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 21, 2025, revealed a teardrop-shaped dust cocoon surrounding the comet's icy nucleus. These Hubble images have aided astronomers in refining estimates of the comet's nucleus diameter, establishing an upper limit of approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers).
Experts attribute the elongated, cylindrical appearance of the comet in the Perseverance image to the long integration time used for the Navcam composite. This technique can stretch bright objects, creating an artifactual shape. Physicist Avi Loeb of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian explained that this visual effect results from stacking hundreds of images over roughly 10 minutes as the comet moved across the Martian sky. While some social media speculation has proposed more unusual explanations, the scientific consensus points to natural photographic processes and the comet's rapid movement as the cause of the anomaly. Earlier observations by the James Webb Space Telescope have also provided insights into the comet's composition.
Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth, with its closest approach to our planet being about 1.8 astronomical units (approximately 170 million miles). The comet is projected to reach its closest point to the Sun around October 30, 2025. The comet's perihelion is expected on October 29, 2025. Its passage through our solar system presents a valuable opportunity for scientists to study materials originating from a planetary system distant from our own, offering rare insights into the early universe. The European Space Agency and NASA are collaboratively monitoring the comet with various instruments, highlighting the global scientific endeavor to understand this rare celestial visitor.