Staff at the Vera Rubin Observatory have published a video showing the movement of comet 3I/ATLAS. It arrived in the Solar System from interstellar space.
☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third interstellar object ever seen in our Solar System!@NSF–@doescience Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once science operations begin later this year! pic.twitter.com/BITtS6Pfu6
— NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (@VRubinObs) July 30, 2025
The Vera Rubin Observatory is located in Chile. It is an 8.4-meter wide-angle survey telescope with the largest field of view of any existing astronomical instrument. It is designed to obtain images of large areas of the sky at once.
The key tasks of the new observatory include:
- measuring weak gravitational lensing in order to detect signs of dark energy and dark matter;
- searching for and studying small bodies in the Solar System;
- mapping the Milky Way;
- detecting short-term optical events, such as new stars and supernovae.
The Vera Rubin Observatory officially made its debut on June 23, 2025, when its first official images were published. However, it had been conducting test observations even before that. And during their observation, they managed to capture comet 3I/ATLAS. The published video was made ten days before its official discovery, which took place on July 1, 2025.
3I/ATLAS is now approaching the perihelion of its orbit. Contrary to claims made by the tabloid press and various bloggers, it is not an alien spacecraft. However, this does not make it less interesting, as it is only the third interstellar object known to us. Moreover, the comet is most likely older than our Solar System. Studying it could shed light on the early history of the Milky Way.
The video also clearly demonstrates the capabilities of the Vera Rubin Observatory. Once the main observation program begins, it is expected to record millions of bodies moving through our Solar System, including an unpredictable number of interstellar objects that have never been observed before.
