Nasa has released new images of the interstellar object called 3I/ATLAS, adding that research indicates it is a comet.

The comet was originally discovered on 1 July 2025 by the Nasa-funded Atlas survey telescope based in Chile. The images were captured when 3I/ATLAS approached solar conjunction - where it was on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth - on 21 October 2025.

According to the Royal Astronomical Society, 3I/ATLAS appears to have originated from the Milky Way's thin disk layer of more recently formed stars, or its thick disk, composed of much older stars.

If the comet came from the thick disk, it could be more than seven billions years old - older than the solar system, experts say.