The icy traveler, called 3I/ATLAS or Comet ATLAS, was discovered on July 1 by the NASA -funded ATLAS survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile. This enormous space snowball came from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and is about 300 million miles from Earth right now.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a cosmic first for this decade, astronomers have identified a mysterious comet from another galaxy — marking only the third time in history that an interstellar object has entered our solar system.

Officially named 3I/ATLAS, the comet was confirmed as having originated outside of Earth's solar system on July 3, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It is believed to be about 20 kilometers, or over 12 miles wide, according to the ESA and traveling at about 60 kilometers, or 37 miles per second relative to the sun.

Space scientists say they are preparing a comet interceptor spaceship as the third interstellar object ever detected was spotted this week. A mysterious object the size of Manhattan was spotted by astronomers hurtling through our Solar System at extraordinary speed.

NASA’s ATLAS survey telescope found an interstellar comet, which could be the largest yet, in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation.