Hubble captured this image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. Hubble shows that the comet has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off its solid, icy nucleus.

NASA is getting ready for a 3I/ATLAS photo dump.

The U.S. space agency has announced plans to release additional images of the famed interstellar comet that was first spotted in July trespassing in Earth's solar system. The impending reveal would mark the first time NASA has unveiled high-resolution images of 3I/ATLAS since its fleet of space telescopes began observing the comet more than three months ago.

The Hubble Space Telescope, for instance, snapped a high-res image of the comet at the end of July that NASA billed as "the sharpest-ever picture" of 3I/ATLAS. Because it's incredibly rare for an object originating from another star to be spotted in our solar system, 3I/ATLAS has attracted no shortage of publicity.

You may also have heard the outlandish theory that it could be some sort of alien spaceship.

A livestream of the event is available to watch at the top of this story.

Here's what to know about NASA's live event to release more photos of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.

NASA to release new photos of 3I/ATLAS. Here's how to watch

NASA will host a live event at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday, Nov. 19, to release never-before-seen photos of 3I/ATLAS. The images have been collected from the U.S. space agency's fleet of space and ground telescopes, as well as spacecraft orbiting other planets in our solar system, according to a press release.

Taking place at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, the event will also stream live online.

Coverage will be available on the agency's streaming app, NASA+ – also available on YouTube and the agency’s X account – as well as Amazon Prime. Netflix, which also provides some live NASA coverage, including rocket launches, is not promoting the event on its platform.

What is 3I/ATLAS?

An object known as 3I/ATLAS made news in July when it was confirmed to have originated outside Earth's solar system. When it was discovered, 3I/ATLAS was whizzing at about 137,000 miles per hour, according to NASA.

The observation – first made by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS – was reported to the Minor Planet Center, the official authority for observing and reporting new asteroids, comets and other small bodies in the solar system. The object is also now catalogued by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Observations of 3I/ATLAS's speed and trajectory confirmed to astronomers that it formed in another star system and was ejected into interstellar space – the region between the stars, according to NASA. For potentially billions of years, the comet has drifted on a journey from the general direction of the constellation Sagittarius in the center of the Milky Way that recently brought it into our solar system.

That makes 3I/ATLAS just the third interstellar object ever spotted in Earth's cosmic neighborhood.

When will 3I/ATLAS fly past Earth?

The comet 3I/ATLAS, which is not in danger of hitting Earth, is projected to make its closest approach to our planet on Dec. 19. On that day, the object will come within about 170 million miles of our planet – or about twice the distance between Earth and the sun.

The object also came within 19 million miles of Mars at the beginning of October before it flew within 130 million miles of the sun on Oct. 30.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch live here today as NASA releases new photos of interstellar 3I/ATLAS

Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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