You might have watched the new footage of the 3I/ATLAS comet and thought the same thing as many other people. Is it really spinning in space? There is a lot of talk about the video online, and it’s not always clear what is true. Let us look at it together and try to figure out what might be going on.
News became interested because of pictures taken by Ray Astrophotography, NASA reports, ESA views, JUICE mission tracking, and social media posts. People reported seeing spinning motion, dust rings, shells breaking off, and changing coma patterns. Even though these claims haven’t been proven, they brought more attention to 3I/ATLAS, the comet from beyond the stars that is going through the solar system for the first and only time. The comet is still moving along its parabolic path, and scientists are looking forward to new pictures from NASA that will help confirm what these early pictures suggest.
The 3I/ATLAS is turning? New footage and claims
The 3I/ATLAS is turning? This question came from a bunch of posts online that showed new pictures and videos of how the cosmic comet is moving. These posts said that the most recent pictures showed a spinning structure. Scientific groups have not checked any of these claims. They have still made people who watch space talk.
A post said that a new video showed a structure that was spinning, like the picture that the ESA ExoMars Orbiter took before. The message asked if this proved that 3I/ATLAS was not a comet. The picture was given to Diego San Araujo by the source. The report has still not been checked out.
A post from another site said that an amateur photographer from Ray’s Astrophotography shared a video at 9 p.m. EST with the same pictures.
It said that on Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST, new NASA pictures of 3I/ATLAS would be shown in a live event. The post said that 3I/ATLAS is “spinning,” but this has also not been proven.
Someone else shared a picture from Ray’s Astrophotography and said that some people were finding something strange in it. This was before NASA made its picture public. Five perfect dust rings were said to be spinning around the center at a distance of 150,000 km in a different tweet. It said that these were shells that had come off. This claim has also not been proven.
The 3I/ATLAS is moving? Important facts about the comet
The ATLAS survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, found Comet 3I/ATLAS on July 1, 2025. It was paid for by NASA. NASA said the comet was from somewhere outside of our solar system. By following its path through time, we can see that it came from somewhere outside of our solar system.
NASA verified that 3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to travel through our neighborhood. The first one was 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017, and the second one was 2I/Borisov in 2019. This is why the name has the number 3. The letter I represents “interstellar.”
Astronomers called 3I/ATLAS an interstellar object because of the way its orbit is shaped. It doesn’t go around the Sun in a straight line. While it’s out in space, it won’t come back.
The 3I/ATLAS is spinning? Path, speed, and witnessing
3I/ATLAS is not a threat to Earth. NASA stated that it will stay far enough away to be safe during the trip. At more than 210,000 kilometers per hour, the comet is moving too fast for the Sun’s pull to catch it.
The comet went back into the night sky after getting close to the Sun on October 30, 2025. It can be seen in the low eastern sky before dawn. You need a medium-sized telescope to see it since you can’t see it with your own eyes. From November to December, you’ll be able to see it early in the morning.
At first, the comet was too far from Earth’s orbit—1.8 astronomical units away. For a few weeks, you’ll be able to see it in the early morning sky.
Is the 3I/ATLAS spinning? Why is this comet important
There may be a lot of carbon dioxide in the comet. In this way, it’s like comets, which form in very cold parts of star systems far away. Astronomers can now study things that come from very far away in the solar system.
It went by Mars very close on October 2 and 3. It was about 29 million kilometers away. It was getting very close to this world.
Is the 3I/ATLAS spinning? How to keep an eye on the comet and follow it
Observers must use a telescope with a hole in the middle that is at least 8 inches wide. From the middle to the end of November, you can see it in the morning sky.
The comet will be watched by the ESA’s JUICE probe from November 2 to November 25. Scientists expect observation data to come in in the year 2026.
NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System tool can be used to monitor 3I/ATLAS.
