Comet 3I/ATLASthe third stellar object ever discovered by astronomers, will make its closest approach to Earth overnight between Thursday and Friday (December 18 to 19), when it will reach just 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) from our planet. It does not pose any threat to Earth.
The exact moment will come at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on December 19, according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”. Space.com website. Although it’s still just under twice the distance from the Sun to Earth — which would prevent stunning images from giant telescopes — it’s a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of an object from another star system. Discovered in July 2025, it follows 1I/’Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
Any planetarium app – such as Sky Tonight, Sky Guide, Stellarium, and SkySafari 7 Pro – will also have 3I/ATLAS in its database. It would be helpful to find it visually. Technically, it can be seen in large astronomical telescopes, but at magnitude 11, it would look “like a small, slightly out-of-focus star,” according to Sky at night.
The best way to view the comet is to use a medium to large telescope with a diameter of about 12 inches, according to the American “space” website. NASAthrough which observers can spot a faint, mysterious patch of green light near the bright star Regulus in Leo and a faint companion called Rho Leonis.
In the meantime, astronomical telescopes on Earth and in space will continue to observe it, some from much closer distances than we will ever get. only today, NASA has released new ultraviolet images The image of the comet was captured by the Europa Clipper spacecraft from about 102 million miles (164 million kilometers) away, closing the distance from Earth by about a third. Stay tuned for more NASA image releases after the close approach.