NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Has Released the Most Detailed Images to Date of the Interstellar Visitor 3I/ATLAS

(Image credit: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI))

NASA has released the most detailed images to date of Comet 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar traveler currently crossing our solar system.

Images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have allowed astronomers to more accurately determine the size of the space object. It appears to be smaller than previously thought, NASA says.

Comet 3I/ATLAS was first spotted on July 1, and the following day NASA confirmed that it came from outside our solar system. The extrasolar object is hurtling toward the inner solar system at more than 210,000 km/h (130,000 mph) and is expected to reach its closest point to the Sun in late October. (The comet poses no danger to us and will be on the far side of the Sun during its closest approach.)