The Hubble House Telescope has captured the perfect image but of a high-speed comet visiting our photo voltaic system from one other star.
NASA and the European House Company launched the newest photographs Thursday.
Found final month by a telescope in Chile, the comet known as 3I-Atlas is simply the third identified interstellar object to go our means and poses no risk to Earth.
/ AP
Astronomers initially estimated the scale of its icy core at a number of miles throughout, however Hubble’s observations have narrowed it right down to not more than 3.5 miles. It may even be as small as 1,000 ft, scientists say, in accordance with a new paper revealed within the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The comet is hurtling our means at 130,000 mph, however will veer nearer to Mars than Earth, holding a secure distance from each. It was 277 million miles away when photographed by Hubble a pair weeks in the past. The orbiting telescope revealed a teardrop-shaped plume of mud across the nucleus in addition to traces of a dusty tail.
NASA beforehand stated the comet will make its closest method to the solar in late October, scooting between the orbits of Mars and Earth. The company stated 3I/ATLAS ought to stay seen to telescopes by way of September, however then it should go too near the solar to watch. It’s anticipated to reappear on the opposite facet of the solar by early December, permitting for renewed observations.
In response to Las Cumbres Observatory in Chile, the item is called “3I” as a result of it’s the third such interstellar object to be discovered, following 1I/’Oumuamu in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
“All three look like fairly darkish and pink, reflecting solely about 5% of the daylight that hits them, which has similarities in reflectivity to asphalt,” the observatory stated final month. “In contrast to 1I/’Oumuamu, 3I doesn’t change a lot in brightness because it rotates, indicating that it’s extra prone to be spherical.”
Los Cumbres Observatory created an animation of picture knowledge from its telescope because it tracked the brand new interstellar on July 4 2025:
