NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope photographed the comet 286 million kilometers from Earth; The American agency estimates that it will reach, at most, 270 million kilometers from the planet. An interstellar object was also spotted by ESA’s Juice probe
A telescope United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) photographed the approach of the comet 3I/Atlas of the Earth.
According to the American agency, the Hubble Space Telescope photographed the comet 286 million kilometers from Earth on November 30. “Hubble tracked the comet as it moved across the sky. As a result, the stars in the background appear as streaks of light,” he explained.
NASA estimates that 3I/Atlas will achieve, at most, 270 million kilometers from Earth and claims that he poses no threat.
The comet was first spotted on July 1 this yearthrough the telescope Asteroid Earth Impact Late Warning System (Atlas)funded by NASA and located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. It is only the third interstellar object – as celestial bodies that form in another star system and enter the solar system are called – ever detected.
Before 3I/Atlas, the 1I/’Oumuamuain 2017, and the 2I/Borisovin 2019.
Based on the trajectory of 3I/Atlas, astronomers from European Space Agency (ESA) I suspect he is the oldest comet ever observed and is 3 billion years older than the solar system, which is already 4.6 billion years old.
Another record
Before Hubble, the space probe Explorer of Jupiter’s icy moons (Juice), from ESA, designed to study the icy moons of Jupiter, had already recorded the approach of 3I/Atlas towards Earth on November 2. According to the European agency, Juice used five of its 10 scientific instruments to observe the interstellar object.
“The instruments collected information on the behavior of the comet and its composition,” the ESA said. The released image was taken by the Navigation Camera, designed to help Juice navigate Jupiter’s icy moons after arriving in 2031, and does not have the high resolution of scientific cameras.
The complete data from the probe should only be received on February 18 and 20, 2026. However, scientists have advanced a quarter of the image recorded by the navigation camera. According to the ESA, it is possible to see the bright coma of gas surrounding the comet’s nucleus, as well as its two tails.
“The comet’s ‘plasma tail’ – made up of electrically charged gas – extends towards the top of the image. We can also see a weaker ‘dust tail’ – made up of tiny solid particles – which extends towards the bottom left of the image,” the European agency explained.
The photo was taken two days before Juice’s closest approach to 3I/Atlas, which took place on November 4, at a distance of approximately 66 million kilometers.
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