Comets

Astrophysics Division
Comets
Goddard Space Flight Center
Hubble Space Telescope
Planetary Science
Small Bodies of the Solar System
The Solar System
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that the spinning of a small comet slowed and then reversed its direction of rotation, offering a dramatic example of how volatile activity can affect the spin and physical evolution of small bodies in the solar system. This is the first time researchers have observed evidence […]
Posted March 26, 2026
3I/ATLAS
Comets
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN)
Open Science
SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe and Ices Explorer)
The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will soon leave our solar system, never to return, but the observations of the comet will live on in NASA’s public data archives. More than a dozen NASA science missions turned their instruments to observe the comet, which is only the third identified object to be visiting our solar system from […]
Posted March 20, 2026
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Comets
Goddard Space Flight Center
Hubble Space Telescope
Small Bodies of the Solar System
The Solar System
In a happy twist of fate, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope just witnessed a comet in the act of breaking apart. The chance of that happening while Hubble watched is extraordinarily minuscule. The findings published Wednesday in the journal Icarus. The comet K1, whose full name is C/2025 K1 (ATLAS)—not to be confused with interstellar comet […]
Posted March 18, 2026
Comets
Heliophysics
Hubble Space Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
Lucy
Mars
Mars 2020
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN)
Missions
Perseverance (Rover)
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Planets
Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH)
Psyche Mission
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory)
STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory)
The Solar System
The Sun
This article was updated to include the full range of dates from the SOHO image. Lee esta historia en español aquí. NASA is in the midst of an unprecedented solar system-wide observation campaign, turning its spacecraft and space telescopes to follow comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system. Twelve […]
Posted November 19, 2025
Comets
Asteroids
The Solar System
These celestial objects look like asteroids but act like comets now come in two flavors. The first dark comet — a celestial object that looks like an asteroid but moves through space like a comet — was reported less than two years ago. Soon after, another six were found. In a new paper, researchers announce […]
Posted December 9, 2024
Comets
Goddard Space Flight Center
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Rosetta
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
Scientists find that cometary dust affects interpretation of spacecraft measurements, reopening the case for comets as potential sources of water for early Earth. 
Posted December 3, 2024
Comets
Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope
Gamma-Ray Bursts
Goddard Space Flight Center
Heliophysics
Heliophysics Division
ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer)
Parker Solar Probe (PSP)
SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory)
Stars
STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory)
The Sun
Uncategorized
Venus
Volcanoes
Wind Mission
With NASA’s fleet of heliophysics spacecraft, scientists monitor our Sun and investigate its influences throughout the solar system. However, the fleet’s constant watch and often-unique perspectives sometimes create opportunities to make discoveries that no one expected, helping us to solve mysteries about of the solar system and beyond.
Posted November 20, 2024
Comets
Night Sky Network
by Kat Troche of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific If you spotted comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in person, or seen photos online this October, you might have been inspired to learn more about these visitors from the outer Solar System. Get ready for the next comet and find out how comets are connected to […]
Posted November 1, 2024
Comets
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) passes over NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in this Oct. 13, 2024, image. This comet comes from the Oort Cloud, far beyond Pluto and the most distant edges of the Kuiper Belt. Though Comet C/2023 A3 will be visible through early November, the best time to observe is between […]
Posted October 18, 2024
NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope)
Comets
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA)
Planetary Defense
Planetary Defense Coordination Office
The mirrors for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope are being installed and aligned, and work on other spacecraft components is accelerating. NASA’s new asteroid-hunting spacecraft is taking shape at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Posted August 28, 2024
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