Overview
- Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 imaged 3I/ATLAS on November 30 from about 178 million miles away, delivering a clearer view with background star streaks caused by the comet’s motion.
- ESA’s Juice downlinked a quarter of a NavCam frame from early November that shows a bright coma plus two distinct tails, a charged-gas plasma tail and a faint dust tail.
- Most Juice instrument data will not be available until February 18–20 because the spacecraft is using its high‑gain antenna as a heat shield near the Sun.
- Astronomers classify 3I/ATLAS as interstellar based on its hyperbolic, unbound trajectory and high speed, making it only the third such object observed in our solar system.
- NASA and international partners plan sustained ground‑ and space‑based observations over the coming months as the comet departs the solar system.