New photos of a rare interstellar comet reveal details in its glowing head and growing tail as it gets closer to the sun.

The images of Comet 3I/ATLAS were captured by the Gemini South telescope at Cerro Pachón in Chile on Aug. 27 as the icy traveler flew through the inner solar system. It's now about 238 million miles away from Earth in space , in the constellation Libra, according to TheSkyLive.com .

These pictures allow scientists to study the comet's light, which can give them insight into its chemical makeup. So far the data suggest 3I/ATLAS is made of dust similar to the comets native to our own solar system, perhaps indicating that the ingredients for making planets around other stars is similar.

"As 3I/ATLAS speeds back into the depths of interstellar space,

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