The European Area Company is making use of spacecraft designed for Mars and Jupiter missions to trace interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS because it continues its journey by means of our photo voltaic system.
First noticed in July 2025 by an ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Final Alert System) telescope in Chile, 3I/ATLAS grew to become the third recognized interstellar object to go by means of our photo voltaic system. Astronomers recognized its extrasolar origin on account of its uncommon trajectory, which does not observe a closed orbit across the solar, and velocity of round 130,000 mph (219,000 km/h). Astronomers have famous that 3I/ATLAS would stay seen to ground-based telescopes till September 2025, earlier than its path carries it too near the solar — and finally behind it from Earth’s perspective.
That temporary window complicates efforts to check the comet’s dimension, composition, and floor exercise, clues that would make clear what such interstellar objects are constructed from and whether or not they resemble comets born in our personal solar system. However, scientists are seizing the opportunity to watch the comet in real time from beyond Earth using a fleet of ESA and NASA planetary missions already orbiting the inner solar system. From their vantage point on the sun-facing side of the comet’s trajectory, these spacecraft will be able to keep observing 3I/ATLAS even after it slips out of reach from Earth.
“Between 1 and 7 October, our Mars orbiters Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter will observe the comet as it passes close to Mars, with the closest distance between the spacecraft and the comet being 30 million km on 3 October,” ESA wrote in a statement. NASA’s Psyche mission, at present on path to the asteroid 16 Psyche positioned within the major asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may also catch a glimpse.
Between Nov. 2 and 25, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will flip its devices towards 3I/ATLAS. Juice’s observations will start simply after 3I/ATLAS reaches perihelion — its closest method to the solar. That second is essential as a result of the solar’s warmth drives the comet into its most lively part, inflicting its ices to vaporize and stream into house.
“JUICE will likely be in the very best place for the essential interval across the 3I/ATLAS perihelion, when observations from Earth would be the hardest,” stated T. Marshall Eubanks, Chief Scientist at Area Initiatives Inc in a previous interview with Space.com. “Various spacecraft orbiting Mars, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Tianwen-1, and Hope, all have both the vantage point and good equipment to provide good data on 3I/ATLAS. [However,] of all of these, I think that the JUICE data near perihelion is likely to be the most critical.”
ESA notes that observing the comet during this period will yield the most valuable data, revealing its true chemical makeup and activity at peak intensity. This is because it will be close enough to the sun that solar radiation will heat the ice at the comet’s core, vaporizing and causing it to erupt from the comet’s surface. The comet’s nucleus will be shrouded in a luminous halo of gas and dust, with a long tail streaming out behind. This window will allow astronomers to measure the full composition of the comet through the gases and dust being released, offering a chemical fingerprint of 3I/ATLAS.
For an interstellar visitor like 3I/ATLAS, this is especially exciting because it will let scientists compare its makeup with comets formed in our own solar system. If the chemistry matches, it suggests planetary systems across the galaxy may share common building blocks; if it doesn’t, it could reveal exotic ingredients from another star system.
Either way, observing 3I/ATLAS in this active phase will give some of the clearest insights yet into the mystery of interstellar comets.
