NASA Shares First Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Captured From Mars
PASADENA, CA - November 24, 2025 – NASA has released a series of unprecedented images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, captured by spacecraft currently orbiting and exploring Mars. The images, taken by the Mars reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), MAVEN, and Perseverance rover, offer scientists a rare possibility to study an object originating outside our solar system.
3I/ATLAS, discovered in 2023, is only the third confirmed interstellar object detected passing through our solar system. Its close approach to Mars in late September and early October 2025 allowed for detailed observations unavailable from Earth-based telescopes.
The HiRISE camera on MRO captured images showing the comet and its surrounding gas envelope, estimated to be approximately 1500 kilometers in diameter, formed by gas released as the comet nears the Sun. Scientists hope further analysis of these images will help determine the size of the comet’s nucleus – its icy, dusty core – and the composition of its particles.
“Observations of interstellar objects are still rare enough that we learn something new every time,” said shane Byrne, hirise principal investigator at the University of Arizona.”We are lucky 3I/ATLAS passes Mars this close.”
MRO’s project scientist, Leslie Tamppari of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, added, “One of MRO’s biggest contributions to NASA’s work on Mars is observing surface phenomena that only HiRISE can see.this is one of the opportunities where we can also study passing space objects.”
Simultaneously occurring, MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) observed 3I/ATLAS for ten days (September 27 to October 7) across various wavelengths. the resulting images depict the comet as a bright, pixelated dot, exhibiting white at its center, blue at the edges, and dark purple in the outer coma. IUVS data also provides the most detailed information yet on the comet’s chemical composition, including an upper limit on the hydrogen to deuterium ratio, offering clues to its origin.
perseverance rover, operating within Jezero Crater, also successfully captured images of 3I/ATLAS on October 4 using its Mastcam-Z camera, requiring a long exposure time due to the object’s faintness.
Currently, 3I/ATLAS is exhibiting new behavior, including increased brightness, new ultraviolet and X-ray activity, and more vibrant colors as it emerges from behind the Sun.
The comet will reach its closest point to Earth on December 19, 2025, at a distance of almost twice the earth-Sun distance (2 AU), posing no threat to our planet.
