Overview
- NASA released delayed datasets from Mars, including MRO/HiRISE imagery, MAVEN ultraviolet detections, and a Perseverance sighting, providing the closest looks yet at 3I/ATLAS near its early October Mars flyby.
- ESA’s Mars observations and other multi-mission tracking improved the object’s orbit by roughly a factor of ten, reinforcing solutions consistent with cometary behavior.
- Agency officials describe the object as a natural comet based on its coma and activity, citing volatile-driven outgassing seen across optical and ultraviolet measurements.
- Harvard’s Avi Loeb published a list of purported anomalies, including jet orientations and an asserted path toward Jupiter’s Hill sphere on March 16, 2026, claims that NASA-affiliated scientists dispute.
- Observers plan intensive follow-ups during the object’s distant December 19 approach to characterize jet composition, speeds, and mass loss, building on recent reports of post-perihelion brightening and UV activity.