NASA has unveiled close-up pictures of an interstellar comet that's making a quick dash around the solar system, sparking disagreement in the science community about what it might be.

Discovered in July this year , the comet known as 3I/Atlas is only the third confirmed object to visit our corner of the cosmos from another star.

It zipped harmlessly past Mars last month.

The comet is visible from Earth in the pre-dawn sky by using binoculars or a telescope.

Several NASA spacecraft at and near the red planet zoomed in on the comet as it passed at 29 million kilometres away.

The European Space Agency's two satellites around Mars also made observations.

Astronomers are aiming their ground telescopes at the approaching comet, which is about 307 million kilometres from Earth.

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