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NASA and ESA Reveal 3I/ATLAS’s Active Nucleus and Dual Tails Ahead of Dec. 19 Distant Flyby

Forthcoming observations will help assess natural cryovolcanism against claims tied to reported chemical oddities.

Overview

  • New images from Hubble on Nov. 30 show a clear nucleus and bright coma as the interstellar object continues vigorous outgassing.
  • ESA’s Juice navigation camera captured indications of two distinct tails—a plasma tail and a fainter dust tail—with the mission’s full science data due in February 2026.
  • The closest approach to Earth is set for Dec. 19 at roughly 1.8 AU (about 270 million km), and agencies say the object poses no threat.
  • Spanish researchers and an arXiv study propose cryovolcanism to explain observed jets and composition features, including reported metal-rich signatures.
  • Harvard’s Avi Loeb cites ALMA reports of methanol and hydrogen cyanide with an unusually high methanol ratio and advances artificial‑origin and panspermia ideas, which other scientists and agencies characterize as unsubstantiated.