Overview
- NASA released a new Hubble image taken Nov. 30 that tracks 3I/ATLAS about 178 million miles from Earth, showing a bright coma with a faint sunward anti-tail feature.
- ESA shared a teaser from Juice’s NavCam taken Nov. 2 that clearly reveals the coma and a hint of both plasma and dust tails, with the spacecraft just 41 million miles from the object.
- Juice observed the comet with five instruments; the full datasets are scheduled to reach Earth Feb. 18 and 20, 2026 due to reduced downlink while the high‑gain antenna serves as a Sun shield.
- 3I/ATLAS is the third confirmed interstellar object, on a hyperbolic path, heading for its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 19 (about 170 million miles) before a Jupiter passage on Mar. 16, 2026.
- Across Hubble, Juice, JWST and other assets, measurements point to volatile‑driven outgassing and small non‑gravitational acceleration consistent with cometary jets, despite speculative alternative claims lacking supporting evidence.