NASA missions capture new images as an interstellar comet zips by Mars

A camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on October 2. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

The latest images of an interstellar comet shared by NASA have captured how an array of spacecraft witnessed a flyby that was truly out of this world , revealing clues to the object’s composition.

Astronomers first detected the rare comet, known as 3I/ATLAS, on July 1. It’s only the third observed interstellar object, or ISO, to originate outside of our solar system and pass through it.

When the interstellar comet flew by the red planet in October, multiple NASA missions pivoted from their explorations to capture tantalizing images of the object that originated outside of our solar system.

Stacked images of 3I/ATLAS, taken by t