Particle.news
Download on the App Store
22 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

NASA Confirms Small Non‑Gravitational Push on Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS as New Images Show No Clear Tail

NASA is tracking the visitor from beyond the solar system, with key high‑resolution images still withheld during the U.S. government shutdown.

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Hubble photographed the comet on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. Hubble shows that the comet has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off its solid, icy nucleus. Because Hubble was tracking the comet moving along a hyperbolic trajectory, the stationary background stars are streaked in the exposure. [Credit — Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)]
Image
Image
A man with a telescope watching a comet.

Overview

  • Ground telescopes re-acquired 3I/ATLAS after solar conjunction, with detections by Qicheng Zhang at Lowell Observatory showing it brighter than before.
  • NASA and multiple outlets report a measurable deviation from a purely gravitational path and a post‑perihelion speed near 152,000 mph.
  • Fresh images from Spain’s R. Naves Observatory, cited by researchers, show a compact source without a clear cometary tail, a feature scientists will probe with upcoming observations.
  • Federal officials say data release is delayed by the shutdown as lawmakers and scientists press for Mars orbiter HiRISE images; the Pentagon’s AARO classifies the object as a comet and not a threat.
  • Closest approach to Earth is set for December 19 at roughly 1.8 AU, with IAWN, Hubble and JWST campaigns scheduled to search for a post‑perihelion gas and dust cloud that would support cometary outgassing.