Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will make its closest approach to Earth on Friday. New X-ray images could shed light on its composition.

Eager skywatchers will soon have front-row seats to a rare cosmic encounter as interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS makes its closest approach to Earth, and you can watch it happen live online tonight!

The comet marks the third known discovered object to pass through the galaxy from the outside and is classified as interstellar due to its high velocity and trajectory.