On July 1, 2025, a telescope in Chile detected something unexpected: a faint object streaking across the sky at an unusual speed and angle. Within hours, astronomers realized what they were seeing. This wasn’t a comet from the outer reaches of our own solar system,

You can watch comet 3I/ATLAS live online tonight (July 3), thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project, which will livestream views beginning at 6:00 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT). The feed will showcase imagery from telescopes in Manciano, Italy, weather permitting. Tune in via Virtual Telescope's WebTV, YouTube channel or here on Space.com.

Beyond the fact that this is the third known interstellar object to have entered our solar system, “we don’t know very much,” said Larry Denneau, co-principle investigator at Atlas, a telescope in Chile that spotted 3I/Atlas on July 1,