Nasa spacecraft capture rare photos of interstellar comet older than Solar System

Nasa has released striking new images of 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar comet believed to be older than the solar system itself. The visuals, captured by Nasa's more than a dozen spacecraft and telescopes across the solar system, offer the closest and most detailed look yet at a visitor that arrived from far beyond our cosmic borders.

3I/ATLAS was first detected in July by an ATLAS telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Its unusual, hyperbolic path immediately confirmed that the icy object did not originate here. Since then, Nasa has launched a sweeping observation effort, turning cameras from Mars, Earth orbit and even solar-watching missions toward the comet.

According to Nasa, some of the most dramatic images were taken from Mars. As 3I/ATLAS passed within 19 million miles of the planet earlier