The Hubble Space Telescope and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer have captured fresh images of an interstellar comet as the object nears its closest approach to Earth this month.

While NASA's James Webb Telescope and other instruments have already spotted abundant water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in 3I/ATLAS's coma, X-ray observations are uniquely sensitive to lighter gases such as hydrogen and nitrogen that are otherwise hard to detect.

The exact origin of this ball of ice, rock and dust is mysterious but, according to NASA, it does not pose a threat to Earth. Anyone with a backyard telescope should be able to view the comet - which will appear as something between a bright star and a faint smudge - from now until January,

Astronomers detect "wobbling high-latitude jet" in comet 3I/ATLAS, according to a preprint paper. A new mutation of flu strain A (H3N2) is driving an increase in influenza cases and hospitalizations. Bears in central Italy are evolving to become smaller and less aggressive after interacting with humans, study finds.

The direction, distance and motion of the comet through the sky during its closest approach could have made it seem like it was hovering over Bethlehem when Jesus was said to have been born.