Astronomy Picture of the Day<p>APOD from 2025-07-17</p><p>3I/ATLAS</p><p>3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object in our Solar System, was spotted by ATLAS in Chile. It's a <a href="https://mastodon.bot/tags/comet" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>comet</span></a> with a visible coma, imaged by Gemini North <a href="https://mastodon.bot/tags/telescope" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>telescope</span></a>. Its hyperbolic orbit confirms its interstellar origin; it's passing within <a href="https://mastodon.bot/tags/Jupiter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Jupiter</span></a>'s orbit but poses no threat to <a href="https://mastodon.bot/tags/Earth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Earth</span></a>.</p><p>HD image at <a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250717.html#space" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250717.ht</span><span class="invisible">ml#space</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.bot/tags/astronomy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>astronomy</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.bot/tags/planet" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>planet</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.bot/tags/mars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>mars</span></a></p>