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Newly Spotted Comet Is Third Interstellar Object Seen in Our Solar System

This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Newly Spotted Comet Is Third Interstellar Object Seen in Our Solar System

This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
This undated diagram shows the trajectory of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system, released by NASA on July 2, 2025. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system.

According to US space agency NASA, the interloper - named 3I/ATLAS - was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system.

Journeying at a speed of around 37 miles (60 km) per second from the direction of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 420 million miles (670 million kilometers) from Earth.

"Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition," University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday.

The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1I/'Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019.

"The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10 km (6.2 miles) in diameter," Denneau said.

"It currently has a faint coma," Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus, "but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don't know what will happen, so that's exciting."

Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 150 million miles (240 million km) away, equivalent to more than 1-1/2 times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 416 million miles (670 million km) from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 130 million miles (210 million km) away from our star.

The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth.

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China to Offer Childcare Subsidies in Bid to Boost Birth Rate 

People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)
People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)
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China to Offer Childcare Subsidies in Bid to Boost Birth Rate 

People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)
People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)

China's government will offer subsidies to parents to the tune of $500 per child under the age of three per year, Beijing's state media said Monday, as the world's second most populous nation faces a looming demographic crisis.

The country's population has declined for three consecutive years, with United Nations demography models predicting it could fall from 1.4 billion today to 800 million by 2100.

The nationwide subsidies apply retroactively from January 1, Beijing's state broadcaster CCTV said, citing a decision by the ruling Communist Party and the State Council, China's cabinet.

"This is a major nationwide policy aimed at improving public wellbeing," CCTV said.

"It provides direct cash subsidies to families across the country, helping to reduce the burden of raising children," it added.

There were just 9.54 million births in China last year, half the number than in 2016, the year it ended its one-child policy, which was in place for more than three decades.

The population declined by 1.39 million last year, and China lost its crown as the world's most populous country to India in 2023.

Marriage rates are also at record low levels, in a country where many young couples have been put off having children by high child-rearing costs and career concerns.

Many local governments have already rolled out subsidies to encourage childbirth.

In March, Hohhot, the capital of China's northern Inner Mongolia region, began offering residents up to 100,000 yuan ($14,000) per newborn for couples with three or more children, while first and second children will be eligible for 10,000 and 50,000 yuan subsidies.

In Shenyang, in northeastern Liaoning province, local authorities give families who have a third child 500 yuan per month until the child turns three.

Hangzhou, in eastern Zhejiang province, offers a one-time payment of 25,000 yuan to couples who have a third child.

More than 20 provincial-level administrations in the country now offer childcare subsidies, according to official data.

Premier Li Qiang vowed to provide childcare subsidies during the government's annual work report in March.

The country's shrinking population is also ageing fast, which has sparked worries about the future of the country's pension system.

There were nearly 310 million aged 60 and over in 2024.