As the mysterious interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS plummets through our Solar System, NASA's good old Hubble Space Telescope has captured the best look yet at the interstellar visitor.
On July 21, the interstellar interloper passed close enough to Earth — and to Hubble, which orbits us at about 320 miles above the planet — that the veteran space telescope was able to capture a surprisingly detailed image of it, NASA explains in a statement about the image.
In the space agency's incredible shot — the second the Hubble has captured since the discovery of 3I/ATLAS — a "teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust," as NASA calls it, is seen trailing behind the puzzling object, which many scientists suspect is a sizable interstellar comet.
Discovered a mere five weeks ago on July 1, 3I/ATLAS is only