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While most planets that we are familiar with stick relatively close to their host star in a predictable orbit, some planets seem to have been knocked out of their orbits, floating through space free of any particular gravitational attachments. Astronomers refer to these lonely planets as "free-floating" or "rogue" planets.

When 3I/ATLAS swept past the sun in late October 2025, it became only the third confirmed visitor from interstellar space ever detected. Unlike the mysterious 'Oumuamua, which revealed almost nothing about itself during its brief flyby in 2017, or even 2I/Borisov which appeared in 2019, this latest interstellar traveler arrived with perfect timing for detailed study.

Team members working with NASA's Curiosity Mars rover created this "postcard" by commanding the rover to take images at two times of day on Nov. 18, 2025, spanning periods that occurred on both the 4,722nd and 4,723rd Martian days, or sols, of the mission.