New Delhi, Dec. 13 -- On December 13, Comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third confirmed interstellar object to breach our solar system, captured global attention as it revealed a complex and rapidly evolving chemistry. This cosmic outsider, traveling on a hyperbolic trajectory, is being closely monitored by astronomers as it heads toward its closest, yet safely distant, approach to Earth on December 19, 2025. This passage is viewed as an unparalleled opportunity to conduct a real-time chemical biopsy of a star system beyond our own.

The comet was discovered by the ATLAS survey on July 1, 2025. Its non-native origin is confirmed by its hyperbolic path, meaning it is not gravitationally bound to the Sun. As a "foreign sample," 3I/ATLAS is a valuabl...