A never-before-seen comet that shares some minor similarities with the infamous interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is about to make its closest approach to our planet, just days after it was first spotted hurtling toward us.
However, despite suggestions to the contrary, the newly discovered comet is almost certainly not related to modern interstellar visitors and originated within our solar system.
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C/2025 V1 has an apparent magnitude of about 13.8, making it too faint to be seen with the naked eye. However, the new comet may be visible to stargazers with a decent telescope or stargazing binoculars. It is currently located in the constellation Virgo and will be most clearly visible just before sunrise, according to TheSkyLive.com.
If the name Borisov rings a bell, it’s because Gennady Borisov also discovered the second known interstellar object (ISO) in 2019, called Comet Borisov. Like 3I/ATLAS, which was first discovered in early July, this alien comet was ejected by a distant star in the Milky Way, traveled through space for billions of years, and then happened to hit our cosmic neighborhood. Incredibly fast.
This association and some additional unusual characteristics were enough for some to compare C/2025 V1 and 3I/ATLAS. Among them is Avi Loeb, a prominent astrophysicist and alien hunter at Harvard University, who described the star as “almost an interstellar object” in a recent blog post.
How can a celestial body become “nearly interstellar”? It descends into its orbit. C/2025 V1 is a bit special because it has a high eccentricity, meaning it is moving towards the Sun along a very straight orbit. This is similar to the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS, although less extreme, and is the main reason for the latest comparison, Loeb wrote. Like recent photos of 3I/ATLAS, the new comet also appears to be missing its tail, he added.
C/2025 V1 was discovered when 3I/ATLAS was still temporarily hidden from us because it was located on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. This has led some new media outlets to speculate that C/2025 V1 may be an alien probe secretly deployed by its “mother ship” 3I/ATLAS. This theory was first postulated by Loeb shortly after the modern ISO was discovered.
However, Loeb downplays this idea in his latest post, writing that “C/2025 V1 is unrelated to 3I/ATLAS unless it employs non-gravity propulsion.” The minimum separation distance between the two objects is also about 140 million miles (225 million km), which is likely too long to explain how they are related, he added.
Instead, this new comet likely originated from the Oort cloud, a huge reservoir of comets and other icy objects located near the outer edge of the solar system. However, its origin and orbital trajectory have not yet been precisely calculated.
As for 3I/ATLAS, the alien comet reached perihelion on October 29, reemerging from a brief stay behind the Sun. This solar approach was notable for several other reasons, including unexpected brightening events and temporary color changes. It is now beginning its journey back from the solar system and is scheduled to make its closest approach to Earth on December 19th.
The ISO shows a number of other unusual features, including highly illuminated surfaces and puzzling tailplanes. However, despite what some have claimed, there is no reliable evidence that 3I/ATLAS, like C/2025 V1, is anything other than a comet.
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