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ESA Sharpens 3I/ATLAS Trajectory as NASA Sets Nov. 19 Image Reveal

Public and scientific scrutiny will focus on new spacecraft and telescope views expected to refine what we know about the interstellar comet.

ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter was repurposed to monitor 3I/ATLAS during in Mars flyby on Oct. 3. The spacecraft performed well, even though it was not designed to perform tasks like this.
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb is still not giving up hope that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien mothership and says it's too early to call it.
Elements of this image furnished by NASA.
Image

Overview

  • ESA used ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter images from the comet’s early-October Mars flyby to cut trajectory uncertainty by about tenfold through triangulation.
  • Astrometry from a Mars orbiter was accepted into the Minor Planet Center database for the first time, a planetary‑defense rehearsal that ESA says could inform future threat assessments.
  • NASA will hold a Nov. 19 briefing at 3 p.m. EST to share multi-mission imagery of 3I/ATLAS, airing on NASA+, the NASA app, the agency’s website, YouTube, and Amazon Prime.
  • The Virtual Telescope Project plans a live telescopic stream on Nov. 18 at 11:15 p.m. ET (Nov. 19 at 04:15 UTC) using instruments in Manciano, Italy.
  • Scientists largely characterize 3I/ATLAS as a volatile‑rich comet that poses no danger, with closest Earth approach around 170 million miles on Dec. 19.