However, new research has shown this potentially "water ice-rich" visitor could be even more extraordinary than initially believed. 3I/ATLAS could be around 3 billion years older than our 4.5 billion-year-old solar system and thus any comet ever before observed.

A mystery interstellar object discovered last week is likely to be the oldest comet ever seen—possibly predating our solar system by more than 3 billion years, researchers say.

Anatomy of an interstellar object Comet 3I/ATLAS follows two other intriguing interstellar objects, called ISOs, that once passed through our solar system: ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in ...

Though 3I/ATLAS will never come close to Earth, its passage offers a rare chance to study material beyond our solar system with ground-based and orbital telescopes, before it accelerates back into deep space . For the latest and best from Chron, sign up for our daily newsletter here.