In most comets, the tail points away from the Sun, but this strange 'anti-tail' of 3I/ATLAS has left scientists puzzled.

Comet Nishimura came into NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft's field of view. The solar wind was interacting with the tail of the comet in the footage. Credit: NASA/STEREO/Karl Battams | edited by Space.com's

The Hubble Space Telescope and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer have captured fresh images of an interstellar comet as the object nears its closest approach to Earth this month.

I/ATLAS is no ordinary comet. With its unusual rhythmic ‘heartbeat’ and surprising acceleration, it is taking us on a journey into the unknown.

Light from the object takes 15 minutes to reach us, so its images are slightly delayed, News.Az reports, citing foreign media. On December 19, 2025,

3I/ATLAS has now made its closest approach to the sun and Earth and is now heading back out toward the outer solar system. On Friday (Dec. 19), the interstellar invader, comet 3I/ATLAS, made its closest approach to Earth, coming to within 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) of our planet at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT).

New images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and a Jupiter-bound mission showcase interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS ahead of its close pass by Earth.

Interstellar comet 3I/Atlas is baffling scientists with its 'flipped' anti-tail, a behavior astrophysicist Avi Loeb suggests points to an unconventional composition. Loeb criticizes the scientific community for dismissing alternative explanations too quickly,

The Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has made valuable observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which in July became the third officially recognized interstellar object to cross into our solar system.

JWST has captured exoplanet Tylos shedding its atmosphere into two giant tails, revealing how extreme stellar radiation can slowly tear planets apart.