ESA's JUICE Mission to Observe Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS in November
The European Space Agency's JUICE spacecraft is set to observe interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS between November 2 and 25, 2025, utilizing five of its instruments to study the comet's activity post-perihelion.
The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is scheduled to observe interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from November 2 to 25, 2025. This observation period follows the comet's perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, which occurs on October 29, 2025. During this time, JUICE will employ five of its instruments: the camera, the near-infrared imaging instrument, the UV spectrometer, the sub-millimeter instrument, and a sensor to image neutral atoms.
Olivier Witasse, ESA Project Scientist, noted that the campaign was unexpected, as no payload activities were initially planned during this cruise phase. However, given the uniqueness of these observations, it was decided to prepare this extra observation planning.
Due to JUICE's position relative to Earth, the data transmission rate is low. Consequently, the data collected during the observation period is expected to be downloaded only in February 2026.
Comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to enter our Solar System, was first spotted on July 1, 2025, by an ATLAS telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile.