An astronomical breakthrough has taken place in the UAE, as the Al Khatim Astronomical Observatory in Abu Dhabi successfully imaged a newly discovered interstellar comet—only the third ever recorded in human history.
The object, named 3I/ATLAS, was discovered by NASA on July 1 using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile.
Classified as an interstellar comet, it originated from another solar system and has been drifting through deep space for billions of years before entering ours just days ago.
UAE captures rare interstellar comet
The “3I” prefix signifies its status as the third interstellar object ever detected, following ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
The comet is currently about 670million kilometres from the Sun, travelling at a staggering 221,000 kilometres per hour.
It poses no threat to Earth, with its closest approach expected to be 240 million kilometres away.
On July 3, astronomers at Al Khatim Observatory captured the faint comet—currently at magnitude 17.5—over a 45-minute session, producing 45 long-exposure images. While the stars appear as streaks in the photographs, the comet is visible as a moving dot.
The UAE observatory’s findings have been officially submitted to the Minor Planet Centre (MPC) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), making Al Khatim the first Arab observatory to document scientific observations of 3I/ATLAS.
The comet will reach its closest point to the Sun on October 30, 2025, at a distance of 210 million kilometres and a predicted brightness of magnitude 11, making it faintly visible through amateur telescopes.
