Two new exciting images interstellar comet 3I/ATLASone taken from Earth by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, and the other taken from deep space by NASA’s Europa Clipper probe.
A comet made headlines around the world in 2025 when astronomers confirmed it was passing through our solar system after forming around a distant star. It is believed to be the oldest comet observed to date and one of only three interstellar objects discovered in our solar system.
The first picture was taken on November 26, 2025 with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope, located atop Maunakea, a dormant volcano on the Pacific island of Hawaii.
Since comets move quickly across the sky compared to the background stars, the telescope had to follow the movement of the comet during long exposures. This makes the background stars look like trails. The final image was processed to correct this effect and keep the stars stationary.
NASA also released the 3I/ATLAS image taken by the Europa Clipper probelaunched in October 2024 and is now on its way to Jupiter. Europa Clipper’s primary mission is to study Europa, one of Jupiter’s largest moons.
Although the probe will not reach The Jupiter system by 2030his tools are already active, allowing him to observe and capture objects in his path. NASA scientists took the opportunity to point the Europa Clipper camera at 3I/ATLAS, getting this unique view of the comet from space as it passed through the inner Solar System.
Combination of different lengths ultraviolet waveThe image shows the coma of gas (blue and green) and dust (red) surrounding the comet’s nucleus. Europa Clipper observed 3I/ATLAS for about seven hours from a distance of about 164 million kilometers.
A rare visitor from outside our solar system
Comet 3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1, 2025, and soon became one of the year’s most important stories in space science. Unlike most comets that form in our solar system, 3I/ATLAS originated far away.
as one third interstellar object confirmed to have ever been recorded, following Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Barisov in 2019, 3I/ATLAS sparked interest in its icy core enveloped in a coma, a luminous halo of gas and dust.
Since its discovery, scientists hastened to closely observe the comet. some of the most powerful telescopes humanity before it leaves the solar system and disappears forever.
The comet also sparked speculation of a possible more mysterious origin. Observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) showed that it deviated slightly from its predicted trajectory by four arcseconds and that its color changed dramatically reddish to dark blue.
There is no evidence that 3I/ATLAS was sent by aliens
In a blog post, the Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb suggested that the anomaly might even indicate a “technological signature of the internal engine”, although most scientists cautioned that natural explanations were far more likely.
There is currently no concrete evidence that 3I/ATLAS was sent by aliens. On the contrary, recent attempts to find hints of extraterrestrial technology 3I/ATLAS yielded no results.
On 18 December, the day before 3I/ATLAS reached its the closest point to the Earthastronomers used the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to look for “technosignatures,” that is, measurable signs of alien technology, on the comet. But the world’s largest fully manned radio telescope failed to find anything noteworthy.
3I/ATLAS at the moment continues its short and exciting journey for our space neighborhood. According to NASA, its last significant encounter will be a close flyby of Jupiter in March 2026 before leaving our solar system forever.
