Overview
- 3I/ATLAS reached perihelion on Oct. 29–30 during solar conjunction, leaving ground-based observatories effectively blind at the key moment.
- Space assets including Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope, TESS and several planetary missions have been collecting images and spectra through the blackout.
- Preliminary measurements show abundant CO2, water and dust with unusually elevated nickel, a shift from an anti-tail to a conventional tail, and no evidence of propulsion or artificial technology.
- NASA and other teams report no threat to Earth, with closest approach expected around Dec. 19 at roughly 240–270 million km as the third confirmed interstellar object follows a hyperbolic escape path.
- The International Asteroid Warning Network will run a Nov. 27–Jan. 27 observing campaign to refine astrometry and composition, a routine scientific exercise not an activated planetary-defense protocol.