The object gained an official name, C/2025 N1 or 3I/ATLAS, on Wednesday. Moving at a record-setting speed for an interstellar visitor, it is travelling along a curve but not in a closed loop – confirmation of its origins outside the Solar System. It will zoom past our Sun without being captured by its gravity.

Astronomers are scrambling to gather data on a mysterious object that’s currently hurtling through the solar system. Preliminary observations suggest it came from interstellar space, and if confirmed, it would mark the third discovery of an interstellar object in history.