Overview
- TGO’s CaSSIS camera recorded multiple detections of 3I/ATLAS from Mars orbit, showing a faint, diffuse target, while Mars Express images did not reveal the object.
- NASA has not issued confirmations on potential Perseverance sightings due to the government shutdown, though auto-posted rover frames show a moving streak under community review.
- The comet passed about 30 million kilometers from Mars in early October, creating a rare vantage point while it was too close to the Sun for Earth-based observatories.
- 3I/ATLAS reaches perihelion on October 30 and is expected to reappear for large ground telescopes after about November 10, with further analyses of spacecraft data underway.
- August observations by NASA’s Swift found hydroxyl in the tail, indicating water vapor and marking the first reported water-related signature for an extrasolar object.