"The object, which is widely believed to be a comet, is expected to make its closest approach to the Earth in December and Jupiter in March of next year. And despite plenty of direct observations by ground and space-based telescopes, plenty of questions remain about the object: what exactly is it made of? How big is it? How did it even get here?"
"As ESA scientists await the data, the spacecraft's NavCam snapped a preliminary picture of the extremely rare visitor on November 2. That's just two days before the probe's closest approach of 3I/ATLAS, coming within just 41 million miles, and three days after the object reached its perihelion, or the closest point to the Sun. The scientists were "surprised" to find it "surrounded by signs of activity" as it was being heated up by the Sun, according to a statement."
3I/ATLAS is an interstellar object widely believed to be a comet that will approach Earth in December and Jupiter in March. Major questions remain about its composition, size, and origin. The European Space Agency used five science instruments on JUICE during a November flyby to measure composition and behavior. JUICE's NavCam captured a preliminary image on November 2 while approaching within 41 million miles shortly after perihelion. The image revealed a visible coma and a hint of two tails: a plasma tail of charged gas and a fainter dust tail. Instrument data are expected to arrive on Earth in February 2026.
Read at Futurism
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