Overview
- NASA released a clearer Hubble image on December 4, captured November 30 from about 286 million kilometers, showing a distinct nucleus and bright coma.
- An ESA Juice image from November suggests the comet may have two tails, interpreted as a plasma tail and a fainter dust tail.
- ESA says Juice tracked 3I/ATLAS for two days with five instruments, with the complete dataset expected to arrive on Earth in late February 2026.
- Agencies project the closest observational approach on December 19 at roughly 1.8 astronomical units, and they report no threat to Earth or naked-eye visibility.
- Researchers note unusual traits including high speed and large size, while a non-natural origin proposed by Avi Loeb is reported as speculative and unproven.