See Comet 3I/ATLAS One Last Time This Saturday.

The Virtual Telescope Project will stream a final public view of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on Jan. 16, 2026 at 21:00 UTC; the object is too faint for the unaided eye and requires large amateur telescopes to observe.

Comet 3I/ATLAS will have one final scheduled viewing before it departs the solar system. It was discovered on July 1, 2025 by the Deep Random Survey facility in Río Hurtado, Chile as part of the ATLAS program and was initially cataloged under other designations. Astronomers identified its orbit as highly hyperbolic, which indicates an origin outside the solar system and made it the third interstellar object recorded after 1I/Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. The Virtual Telescope Project will point robotic telescopes at the comet and stream a live feed from Manciano, Italy on Jan. 16, 2026 at 21:00 UTC for a final public view. Key details: - Discovery: Found Jul. 1, 2025 by the Deep Random Survey (part of the ATLAS program) in Río Hurtado, Chile. - Classification: Renamed 3I/ATLAS and identified as the third known interstellar object after 1I/Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019). - Live viewing: The Virtual Telescope Project will stream "Farewell, 3I/ATLAS: a final view of this exceptional object" on Jan. 16, 2026 at 21:00 UTC from Manciano, Italy. - Visibility: The comet is too faint for the naked eye; imaging requires roughly an 8-inch digital telescope and visual observation typically requires about a 16-inch optical telescope. - Behavior: Recent data from NASA's Psyche mission and ESA's Mars Trace Gas Orbiter report a small acceleration consistent with cometary outgassing rather than an artificial source. Summary: This scheduled livestream offers a final public opportunity to observe a rare interstellar comet before it continues on a hyperbolic trajectory and leaves the solar system. The Jan. 16, 2026 viewing is the next and currently planned observational event; future returns are undetermined at this time.