Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS seen in new photos from Mars

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS — just the third such object ever confirmed to have entered our solar system — flew past Mars last week. A spacecraft got a photo.

A mysterious interstellar comet — just the third such object ever confirmed to have entered our solar system — streaked past Mars last week.

A spacecraft in orbit around the red planet had a front-row seat and snapped new images of the comet, known as 3I/ATLAS, on Friday. The photos, released Tuesday by the European Space Agency, show a fuzzy white dot moving against the vast expanse of space.