New Images of Comet 3I/ATLAS Reveal “How Magical the Universe Could Be”
As only the third known object to enter our Solar System from the outside, Comet 3I/ATLAS has researchers and amateur astronomers alike buzzing with excitement. Since its initial discovery on July 1, 2025, by NASA’s ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescope, there have been few images captured of the comet.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured one of the most notable images of Comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was about 277 million miles away from our planet. Now that the comet is moving further through our Solar System, NASA is unveiling more images of the interstellar object captured by various missions across the agency and using that data to better understand the interstellar visitor.
Read More: Other ATLAS Comet Appears Fragmented After Close Encounter with The Sun
Capturing Images of Comet 3I/ATLAS
Besides NASA’s ATLAS and Hubble Space Telescopes, agency researchers also collected images and data from the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope), TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), Swift Observatory, SPHEREx, Lucy, Psyche, Parker Solar Probe, Perseverance Mars rover, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Curiosity rover, Europa Clipper, PUNCH, and ESA/NASA’s SOHO and Juice.
All of these missions were placed around the planet and our Solar System. Because of this, they’ve been able to capture a wide range of views of Comet 3I/ATLAS and provide researchers with a clearer view of its size, shape, composition, and trajectory.
JWST and SPHEREx: Images in Infared
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS Aug. 6, with its Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument
(Image Credit: NASA/James Webb Space Telescope)
The JWST captured an image of 3I/ATLAS with Near-Infrared Spectrograph technology on August 6, 2025. According to Shawn Domagal-Goldman, the acting director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division, this infrared technology helps us detect light that the human eye can’t see.
“Infrared light is particularly good at helping us understand the composition of objects. We can see little molecular fingerprints from the things that the objects are made of,” Domagal-Goldman said at a NASA press conference on November 19, 2025.
SPHEREx tracked the comet for about a week (between August 7 and August 15) and captured infrared images of it. According to Domagal-Goldman, researchers detected high levels of carbon dioxide and evidence of water ice.
JWST, because of its infrared capabilities, will likely be the last telescope to track 3I/ATLAS as it leaves our Solar System.
Lucy and Psyche: Opposite Views of 3I/ ATLAS
The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, circled in the center, as seen by the L’LORRI panchromatic, or black-and-white, imager on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft.
(Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/JHU-APL)
On its way to an asteroid with the same name, the Psyche spacecraft captured images of the comet between September 8 and 9, at about 33 million miles away from the spacecraft. Psyche was only able to observe the comet for about eight hours.
About a week later, the Lucy spacecraft captured images of 3I/ATLAS from the opposite direction as Psyche. When these images were taken, Lucy was about 240 million miles away from the comet.
Close Encounters of the Martian Kind
While 3I/ATLAS won’t be coming near Earth, the comet did come within Mars’ orbit, about 19 million miles away from the Red Planet. Mars orbiters like MAVEN captured images of the comet, along with HiRISE. The image captured here was from MAVEN’s ultraviolet spectrograph, which helps break up the ultraviolet light by color, according to Tom Statler, a NASA lead scientist for solar system small bodies.
An ultraviolet image composite of the hydrogen atoms surrounding comet 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever detected by astronomers, as it passes through our solar system.
(Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/LASP/CU Boulder)
From the image, researchers detected different levels of hydrogen in Mars’ atmosphere and the comet. This adds another layer of understanding to the composition of the comet.
From Mars’ surface, the Perseverance rover captured a faint image of the comet.
How Old Is 3I/Atlas, and When Did It Enter Our Solar System?
Other NASA missions and telescopes have spotted the comet as it continues its journey through our Solar System. NASA is still working to clarify all of the data they’ve collected thus far, but are positive that more of their questions will be answered in the coming months. Some of those questions include when the comet entered our Solar System.
While there isn’t a definitive answer on that, according to Domagal-Goldman, data from the Swift mission indicate that the comet may have been in our Solar System as early as May 2025, though more data is needed.
As for the age of 3I/Atlas, that remains unclear as well. While there is circumstantial evidence suggesting the comet is older than our Solar System, without further study and more concrete evidence, the comet’s age will remain uncertain, at least for now.
Read More: When Was Halley’s Comet Last Seen and Will It Ever Return?
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