3I/ATLAS growing a tail? Fresh photos captured by scientists reveal major discoveries as the comet nears Earth

In a big update pertaining to 3I/ATLAS, fresh pictures of a tail growing on the interstellar invader were released on Thursday (September 4, 2025). The images of the phenomenon were reportedly captured on August 27, 2025, by a team of scientists and students using the Gemini South telescope located on Cerro Pachón in Chile.

The pictures, according to news agency AP, are the most detailed yet of the recently discovered comet. They show a wide coma of dust and gas around the ice ball as it speeds toward the sun and also a tail that’s more extended than it was in previous shots.




These new images confirm that the comet is becoming more active as it plows harmlessly through our solar system, according to the National Science Foundation’s NoirLab, which operates the telescope, AP reported. It is only the third known interstellar object found drifting through the solar system that is believed to have originated from around another star.



According to NASA, the comet known as 3I-Atlas was 238 million miles (384 million kilometers) from Earth and growing ever nearer. It will make its closest approach to the sun at the end of October and then pass closest to Earth in December from 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) away, farther from Earth than the sun.

3I/ATLAS, discovered on July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System), is just the third-ever object. According to Space.com, the previous two interstellar intruders were the cigar-shaped 'Oumuamua (officially designated 1I/2017 U1), discovered drifting through the solar system in 2017, and the comet/asteroid hybrid 2I/Borisov, discovered two years later in 2019.

"As 3I/ATLAS speeds back into the depths of interstellar space, this image is both a scientific milestone and a source of wonder," team leader and University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy astronomer Karen Meech said in a statement, as quoted by Space.com. "It reminds us that our solar system is just one part of a vast and dynamic galaxy, and that even the most fleeting visitors can leave a lasting impact."

The latest images were collected in collaboration with the Shadow the Scientists initiative, which connects researchers with the general public as they perform authentic scientific experiments, like catching an interstellar comet with a world-class telescope like Gemini South and its Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) instrument.

The captured image shows the wide coma of 3I/ATLAS, as can the interstellar comet's tail. According to Space.com, the image stretches out for around 1/120th of a degree in the sky (one degree is about the width of your little finger as viewed with your arm outstretched).

What do fresh observations suggest?

The new observations about the comet suggest that its chemical composition is similar to that of comets that originate in the solar system. The processes that formed the planets of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago are the same as those of other planetary systems around stars other than the sun, because comets are formed at the same time as the planets and asteroids of a planetary system, according to Space.com.