British astronomers have discovered a mysterious object from space that is likely the oldest comet ever observed.
This comet called, 3I/ATLAS contains a lot of water ice and is unique because it didn't come from our solar system.
Instead, it traveled from a faraway part of our galaxy called the "thick dust," making it the first unknown object of its kind to reach Earth, as per Sky News.
Only two other objects from outside our solar system have ever been observed entering it.
However, 3I/ATLAS is different from those earlier objects as the path it is travelling on is very steep which makes scientist believe it came from a part of the Milky Way.
This region is made up of very old stars and lies above and below the flat central layer of the galaxy where most stars including our Sun are found.
3I/ATLAS could be about three billion years older than our solar system.
University of Oxford astronomer Matthew Hopkins explained, "All non-interstellar comets such as Halley's Comet formed with our solar system, so are up to 4.5 billion years old."
He added, "But interstellar visitors have the potential to be far older, and of those known about so far our statistical method suggests that 3I/ATLAS is very likely to be the oldest comet we have ever seen."
The object 3I/ATLAS was first seen on July 1, 2025 using a telescope in Chile and at that moment, it was located 670 million kilometers from the Sun.
When the comet 3I/ATLAS moves close to the Sun, the heat will warm it up and cause it to release gases and dust and scientists say that in late 2025 and early 2026, anyone might be able to see the comet using regular telescopes.
