Astronomer snaps first look at Comet 3I/ATLAS after Sun encounter: Here's what we know

Comet 3I/ATLAS has now been seen from Earth again after passing behind the Sun, fresh images show, captured by an astronomer named Qicheng Zhang.

Unlike the typical comets born in our own solar system, interstellar ones originate from other star systems and zip through ours in hyperbolic orbits, never to return.

Astronomer Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow at the Lowell Observatory, used the powerful Discovery Telescope located in Arizona to capture what is believed to be the first post-perihelion optical image of an interstellar comet, taken on Halloween, October 31, 2025.

Zhang says standard amateur telescopes can now spot comets across most of the Northern Hemisphere.

Zhang, while using a small 6-inch telescope to test and understand expected conditions before his booked slots on the Lowell Discovery Telescope.

He successfully obtained the fresh image when the comet was about 16 degrees away from the Sun.

Since its discovery in July, scientists have gained much knowledge about 3I/ATLAS. As the third confirmed interstellar object, it is speeding through our solar system at over 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h) along a flat and direct path.

The comet disappeared for a short period from Earth’s view as it performed a gravity assist around the Sun, arriving at perihelion, its nearest approach to the Sun, on October 29, 2025 - it came within 1.4 astronomical units, or 130 million miles (210 million kilometers) of the Sun.