US EditionInterstellar Visitor Sprouts Seven Jets After Sun Flyby
- On October 29, 2025, 3I/ATLAS reached perihelion at about 203 million km from the Sun and then brightened and turned bluer, surprising astronomers.
- Solar heating near perihelion triggers sublimation that blasts material sunward like geysers, and jets likely contain dust and carbon dioxide matching the James Webb Space Telescope plume.
- Stacked green-, red- and blue-filter exposures revealed a halo ~500,000 kilometers wide and at least seven jets, including sunward-directed ones, observed by M. Jäger, G. Rhemann and E. Prosperi on November 8, 2025.
- When 3I/ATLAS reemerges in November–December 2025, researchers expect a gas cloud carrying five billion tons or more, while Davide Farnocchia, navigation engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reported non-gravitational acceleration and Loeb's team will analyze data amid study delays.
- By December 19, 2025, 3I/ATLAS is projected to pass 97 million kilometers from Venus in early November and approach within 267 million kilometers of Earth, with NASA's Juno spacecraft possibly detecting it near Jupiter by March 16, 2026.
51 Articles
51 Articles
Astronomers track mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS after sudden speed boost and colour change
Astronomers around the world are observing 3I/ATLAS, a rare interstellar object that has suddenly sped up and changed colour as it travels through the solar system. Discovered in July 2025 by a telescope in Chile, it is only the third object from beyond our solar system ever detected. While NASA says it poses no threat to Earth, scientists are puzzled by its unexpected movements and bright blue hue. A new visitor from beyond the solar system 3…
New 3I/ATLAS image shows strange jets shooting out of interstellar object
3i/ATLAS update today: A new photo taken by British astronomers Michael Buechner and Frank Niebling shows jets emanating from the interstellar comet in at least two directions. But their size means that probes might not be able to analyse these mysterious structures.
Astronomer Avi Loeb warns world not to ignore new comet’s potential alien threat
Israel-born Harvard scientist, no stranger to controversy, has asked Kim Kardashian to join his research team after the celeb got some answers about 3I/ATLAS from a recalcitrant NASA head
‘Set of jets’ surrounding 3I/ATLAS could be used ‘for navigation of a spacecraft’ — as second interstellar object is spotted in the sky
3I/ATLAS is surrounded by "a complex jet structure," new images show, sparking further speculation that the Manhattan-sized interstellar object could be an artificial alien craft.
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