Hubble and Juice Capture Detailed Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer have captured detailed images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it approaches its closest point to Earth.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) have captured detailed images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it approaches its closest point to Earth.
Hubble first observed 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was approximately 277 million miles from Earth. The images revealed a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust surrounding its solid, icy nucleus.
On November 30, 2025, Hubble reobserved the comet using its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument, capturing an even clearer image.
Meanwhile, the Juice mission, en route to study Jupiter and its icy moons, observed 3I/ATLAS in early November from about 41 million miles away. The spacecraft utilized five scientific instruments and its onboard Navigation Camera to capture images showing the comet's coma and two tails: a plasma tail composed of electrically charged gas and a faint dust tail of solid particles.
Comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to visit our solar system, was discovered on July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile.
The comet is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on December 19, 2025, at a distance of about 167 million miles.
Observations from Hubble and Juice are providing valuable insights into the comet's trajectory and composition, enhancing our understanding of interstellar objects.