Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was almost called 3I/Rubin, after researchers found that the giant survey telescope coincidentally spotted this visitor from the stars over a week before it was officially discovered.
Rubin Observatory had begun its science validation phase a few weeks earlier, it might have been up and running in time to discover 3I/ATLAS first.
It turns out interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was almost called 3I/Rubin, after researchers found that the giant survey telescope coincidentally spotted this visitor from the stars over a week before it was officially discovered.
