When NASA’s ATLAS survey first spotted the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in July 2025, astronomers recognized it as a rare and intriguing visitor from beyond our solar system. In the past two months, the world’s most powerful telescopes, including Hubble, JWST, SPHEREx, and TESS, have locked onto 3I/ATLAS, revealing that this interstellar comet refuses to play by the rules. From early on, the world’s major observatories converged on the interstellar comet, each uncovering incredibly rare and unusual traits that set it apart from familiar comets. Moreover, unlike most comets, 3I/ATLAS’s enormous estimated size and unusually sluggish tail formation hint at a physical makeup or evolutionary history unlike anything astronomers have observed before. Notwithstanding its unprecedented and puzzling traits, the overwhelming consensus for now is that 3I/ATLAS is a naturally formed interstellar comet.