![\"Hubble_reobserves_3I_ATLAS\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766008517_539_0x0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reobserved interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS on 30 November with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. At the time, the comet was about 286 million kilometers from Earth. Hubble tracked the comet as it moved across the sky. As a result, background stars appear as streaks of light. Hubble previously observed 3I\/ATLAS in July, shortly after its discovery, and a number of observatories have since studied the comet as well. Observations are expected to continue for several more months as 3I\/ATLAS heads out of the solar system.<\/p>\n
NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA). Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)<\/p>\n
The deep-space comet 3I\/ATLAS that\u2019s currently barreling through the solar system \u2014 which some have speculated may be an alien spacecraft \u2014 will make its closest approach to Earth on Friday, Dec. 19.<\/p>\n
Discovered on July 1, 2025, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System telescope in R\u00edo Hurtado, Chile, 3I\/ATLAS is the third of its kind ever observed after 1I\/Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I\/Borisov in 2019. <\/p>\n
When To See Interstellar Comet 3I\/ATLAS<\/p>\n
The comet got closest to the sun \u2014 about 126 million miles (203 million kilometers) \u2014 on Oct. 29, and on Dec. 19, it will get closest to Earth at about 168 million miles (270 million kilometers). That\u2019s not very close \u2014 the distance between Earth and the sun is 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) \u2014 but it\u2019s the best view we\u2019ll get. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter billions of years of galactic solitude and just moments in the warmth of our sun, interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS makes its closest approach to Earth on Friday,\u201d said Dr. Gary Blackwood, Ph.D., a retired NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer hosting a live comet 3I\/ATLAS viewing event<\/a>, in an email. \u201cOn a hyperbolic orbit originating from the center of the Milky Way, this rare visitor will depart our solar system never to be seen again.\u201d <\/p>\n Is Interstellar Comet 3I\/ATLAS An Alien Spacecraft?<\/p>\n Despite speculation<\/a> by Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Avi Loeb that 3I\/ATLAS may be an alien spacecraft, the comet behaves much like the comets of our own solar system. New data from NASA\u2019s Psyche mission<\/a> and ESA\u2019s Mars Trace Gas Orbiter<\/a> confirm the comet is accelerating \u2014 a slight push caused by jets of vaporized gas escaping the surface, called \u201coutgassing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe measured the non-gravitational acceleration using long-baseline astrometry,\u201d said Marshall Eubanks, lead author of a new paper published<\/a> in Research Notes of the AAS, to Spaceweather.com<\/a>. \u201cThe results are pretty typical of ordinary comets, and certainly not record-breaking.\u201d The team estimates that 3I\/ATLAS weighs about 48.5 tons (44 million metric tons) and has a radius of 850-1,200 feet (260-370 meters).<\/p>\n The conclusion? 3I\/ATLAS fits the comet profile, putting to rest any speculation that it might be artificial. <\/p>\n Where To See Interstellar Comet 3I\/ATLAS<\/p>\n