--- title: "NASA Rover Appears to Catch Photo of Mysterious Interstellar Object From Surface of Mars" description: "NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has seemingly managed to snap images of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS as it made its flyby of the Red Planet." date: "2025-10-06" modified: "2025-10-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/space/nasa-mars-rover-photo-interstellar-object" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Astrophysics" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Off-World" - "Space" --- # NASA Rover Appears to Catch Photo of Mysterious Interstellar Object From Surface of Mars ![NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has seemingly managed to snap images of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS as it made its flyby of the Red Planet.]() *NASA / Futurism* As predicted, interstellar object 3I/ATLAS came within [spitting distance of the surface of Mars]() as it continued blazing its path through the solar system. The mysterious object, widely believed to be a comet, is only the third object from beyond the solar system to have ever been identified as it cruises through. It's [fascinated scientists]() ever since it was first observed in early July. Now, NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has seemingly managed to snap images of the errant visitor as it made its flyby of the Red Planet. Two [pictures](), [shared by the space agency]() over the weekend after being captured by Perseverance's Right Navigation camera (Navcam), show a singular streak contrasted against the emptiness of space around it. ![An image by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover that appears to show the interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS.]() Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who has long been [advocating for NASA's spacecraft to have a closer look]() at the comet, offered his early thoughts on the images, which were taken when 3I/ATLAS was 23.6 million miles from Mars, in a [new blog post](). In back-of-the-envelope calculations, Loeb determined that the stripe visible in the Perseverance images was 31,000 miles long. However, the astronomer suggested the object itself likely isn't that large; instead, it got smeared out thanks to the camera's "long integration time." "In conclusion, the stripe in the Navcam image must have resulted from stacking hundreds of Navcam images over a total time interval of about ten minutes," Loeb wrote. "3I/ATLAS would have looked like a circular spot for an individual snapshot, which has a maximum exposure time of 3.28 seconds for Navcam." "If the Navcam images represent single snapshots with an exposure time below 3.28 seconds, then the brightness and angular length of the observed source imply that it is not 3I/ATLAS," Loeb wrote. "In that case, the source might be much closer to the camera — capable of being smeared into an elongated image with a smaller spatial size and a smaller speed." Important to note: it remains unconfirmed if the images definitely show 3I/ATLAS. *Futurism* has reached out to NASA for confirmation. Fortunately, we could soon get an even better look. According to Loeb, the HiRISE camera attached to NASA's Reconnaissance Mars Orbiter also took an image of 3I/ATLAS on October 3, though it currently remains unreleased. The data could help us determine how big the visitor really is. Loeb [previously suggested]() it could be absolutely enormous, weighing in at 33 billion tons, and measuring 3.1 miles across — orders of magnitude bigger than the preceding two interstellar visitors we have observed so far. "The brightest pixel in the HiRISE image will provide the best constraint yet on the area of 3I/ATLAS," Loeb wrote in his latest blog post. "We are all hoping that the HiRISE team will release their images as soon as possible." **More on 3I/ATLAS:** [*The Mysterious Object Cruising Through Solar System Is Releasing Strange Metals, Paper Finds*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()