Scientists are intrigued by the mysterious behaviour of Comet 3I/ATLAS, which recently exhibited an unprecedented and rapid increase in brightness as it approached the Sun — a phenomenon that remains unexplained.

This comet is only the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, following the elongated asteroid ‘Oumuamua (discovered in October 2017) and 2I/Borisov, the first interstellar comet, observed in August 2019. Such visitors from beyond our solar system offer rare insights into the chemical composition and evolution of distant planetary systems.

As 3I/ATLAS neared perihelion — its closest point to the Sun — on October 29, 2025, researchers expected a gradual brightening, similar to comets originating from the Oort Cloud, a distant reservoir of icy bodies at the sol

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