3I/ATLAS Alignment: Earth Prepares For Rare View of 13-Billion-Year-Old Mystery on January 22

The night sky is about to reveal a secret that has been drifting through the cold vacuum of space for nearly the entire history of the universe. On Jan. 22, 2026, a cosmic coincidence will place Earth in a near-perfect line between the sun and 3I/ATLAS, an enigmatic interstellar visitor that has baffled astronomers since it was first spotted last summer. At 13:00 UTC, the interstellar object will reach its closest alignment with the sun–Earth axis, with a phase angle of just 0.69 degrees — an unprecedented geometry for scientific study. This rare alignment is more than a celestial photo opportunity; it is a high-stakes scientific moment that could finally explain why this 'interstellar vagabond' behaves like nothing ever seen in our own solar system.

Decoding the 3I/ATLAS Mystery and the Sunward Jet

The NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile found 3I/ATLAS on July 1, 2025. It is only the third confirmed object to come to us from another star system, after 'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. But 3I/ATLAS has some 'weird' features that even experienced Harvard astrophysicists can't ignore, unlike its predecessors.

The most interesting thing about the object is that it has a strong 'anti-tail,' which is a jet of material that shoots directly toward the sun instead of away from it, going against the normal effects of solar wind. This anti-tail, on the other hand, has been seen in thousands of pictures over the course of several months and is at least 400,000 kilometers long toward the sun.

This anti-tail is not alone. Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a system of three 'mini-jets' arranged with almost mathematical precision, each separated by an angle of exactly 120 degrees. While some astronomers associate these with a rotating nucleus that completes a full turn every 7.1 to 15.5 hours, the extreme symmetry has led to controversial debates about whether the jets could indicate active technology rather than natural outgassing.

The fact that none of these plumes point away from the sun has sparked intense debate. While NASA maintains the object is a natural comet, others have noted that its unusual gas plumes are deeply 'conspicuous.' The Jan. 22 alignment offers a unique window to observe these jets from the sun's perspective, as the anti-tail will be directed right at Earth, allowing us to see how it manages to cut through solar winds for hundreds of thousands of kilometres.

The Science of the 3I/ATLAS Alignment and the 'Opposition Surge'

At 13:00 UTC on Jan. 22, the angle between the sun-3I/ATLAS axis and the sun-Earth axis will be only 0.69 degrees. This very close alignment causes something called the 'opposition surge' or 'brightness spike'. The object will look much brighter during this short time for two main reasons.

First, the shadows that dust particles make are hidden behind the particles themselves because the light source is right behind the observer. Second, a quantum mechanical process called coherent backscatter causes light waves to interfere with each other in a way that makes a narrow spike in brightness.

This surge is a goldmine for researchers. By measuring the width and intensity of this brightness, scientists can determine the exact composition of the interstellar matter 3I/ATLAS carries. Initial spectroscopic data has already identified water ice, carbon dioxide and even traces of nickel, suggesting the object may have originated from a planetary system that formed billions of years before our own sun.

Is it a 'fluffy' aggregate of ancient dust, or does it contain significant ice fragments that suggest a high albedo? Because the object is potentially 13 billion years old, it acts as a pristine time capsule from the 'thick disk' of the Milky Way — a region much older than the 'thin disk' where our own sun was born.

For a few days, we have a front-row seat to a world that existed before our planet was even a thought. Whether it is a simple icy rock or something more complex, 3I/ATLAS remains our only current bridge to the deep history of interstellar space.

The alignment is particularly rare because typical cometary oppositions last only hours, whereas 3I/ATLAS will remain within a crucial two-degree angle for approximately one week. As it begins its long journey back into the darkness, never to return, the data gathered this week may be the only evidence we ever have of its billion-year-old journey.