Manhattan-sized comet 3I/ATLAS heading for the Sun today — how close will it get to Earth?

It’s doing a Sun run.

Manhattan-sized comet 3I/ATLAS — which scientists suspect could have extraterrestrial origins — will reach its closest approach to the Sun on October 30.

While ATLAS doesn’t actually orbit our solar star, the intergalactic entity’s trajectory nonetheless brings it closer to the Sun, and then further away — a phenomenon known as a perihelion approach, Space.com reported.

Both terrestrial telescopes and spotting devices in Earth’s orbit will miss out on seeing the 3I/ATLAS at perihelion. NASA

At its closest point, 3I/ATLAS will be around 130 million miles away from our light source, just inside the orbit of Mars.

This means that the comet won’t pose any threat to Earth, only passing within 170 million miles of our planet, NASA.com reported.

In fact, stargazers won’t even be able to glimpse ATLAS’ historic Sun run.

When ATLAS shifted to the opposite side of the Sun in September, it became lost in the solar glare, and won’t reappear in Earth’s sky in November or even September. This means that both terrestrial telescopes and spotting devices in Earth’s orbit will miss out on seeing the 3I/ATLAS at perihelion.

ATLAS currently poses no threat to the solar system (pictured). NASA

Thankfully, there are oodles of spacecraft exploring our solar system that will be able to take a peek. Potential spectators include the flotilla of spacecraft at Mars, NASA’s mission to the Psyche astroid, and the Lucy mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE) probe will have the best seats in the house, but won’t be able to beam its data to Earth until next February as its using its primary antenna to shield its gadgetry from the Sun.

Of course, not everyone thinks that ATLAS’ fly-by is so benign. Harvard Scientist Avi Loeb, who has been following the object since it was discovered in July by NASA’s James Webb Telescope, raised concern that ATLAS was passing close to Jupiter, Venus and Mars.

According to him, this unusual approach, along with its anomalous trajectory and non-gravitational acceleration, suggest that ATLAS could be a potentially hostile alien probe that was sent to conduct reconnaissance on Earth.

Another characteristic that seems to defy typical comet behavior, per Loeb include an anti-tail — a jet of particles that points toward the Sun instead of away from it as is typical.

During a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan experience, Loeb even accused NASA of withholding a photo of the comet that was taken on October 2nd by NASA’s HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

He suggested that the photo might’ve provided counter-evidence to the space agency’s claim that the comet tail is not atypical.

As of yet, NASA has not confirmed any such photograph or withheld said image, while its official position is that 3I/ATLAS does not pose a threat to our planet.