In November 2025, the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS emerged from behind the Solar and commenced making its method in the direction of the outer Photo voltaic System. This was a momentous event, because the comet was experiencing elevated exercise following its closest method to the Solar and was as soon as once more seen to our telescopes and robotic house missions. One such mission is the European House Company’s (ESA) JUpiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE), which captured the above picture of 3I/ATLAS utilizing its Navigation Digital camera (NavCam).
The picture was taken on Nov. 2nd, 2025, two days earlier than JUICE made its closest method to the comet, at which level, it was about 66 million km (41 million mi) from the comet. Whereas this was farther than the ESA’s Mars Specific and ExoMars Hint Fuel Orbiter (TGO), which took photos of the comet again in October, the JUICE picture captures 3I/ATLAS in a extra energetic state. Whereas the complete knowledge from the probe’s observations is not going to attain Earth till February 2026, the crew managed to obtain one quarter of the NavCam picture, offering a beautiful teaser.
Though the NavCam was not designed to take high-resolution pictures, the ensuing picture shocked the science crew. Along with exhibiting the comet’s brilliant coma, the comet additionally seems to have two tails, consisting of the “plasma tail” and the “mud tail.” The previous, which extends upwards from the coma, consists of electrically charged gasoline, whereas the latter, extending under, consists of stable particles launched by outgassing. JUICE additionally noticed 3I/ATLAS utilizing 5 of its science devices and picked up knowledge on the comet’s composition and conduct, that are all in step with it being a comet.
*Annotated picture of 3I/ATLAS and a map (inset) of its location when noticed by JUICE. Credit score: ESA/Juice/NavCam*
The ESA expects to obtain the complete knowledge from its devices between Feb. 18th and twentieth. The delay is because of JUICE utilizing its principal high-gain antenna as a warmth protect. In consequence, the probe should depend on its smaller, medium-gain antenna to ship knowledge again to Earth, and at a a lot slower price. The information from these devices can also be anticipated to offer a clearer image of the comet’s exercise. This consists of pictures from JANUS, the probe’s high-resolution optical digital camera, spectrometry from its Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS), and UV imaging spectrograph (UVS).
There will even be knowledge on its composition obtained by the Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument (SWI) and particle knowledge from the Particle Atmosphere Bundle (PEP). This can enable scientists to be taught extra about the place the comet originated and what situations are like in different components of the galaxy. Provided that 3I/ATLAS could possibly be as much as 7 billion years outdated, this knowledge will present a window into the historical past of our galaxy lengthy earlier than Earth and the Photo voltaic System existed.
Additional Studying: ESA
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