Astronomers have confirmed the third interstellar object on record is dashing through our solar system. Dubbed 3I/ATLAS, it appears to be a comet and is thought to have flown in from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius,

The first interstellar object spotted in our Solar System was the cigar-shaped ‘Oumuamua, discovered in 2017 by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii. Scientists tracked it for 80 days before eventually confirming it came from interstellar space.

Astronomers have discovered a rare instance of a interstellar comet speeding through the solar system. The 3I/ATLAS was first spotted on July 1 by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System telescope.