NASA has published new images of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS

NASA's Hubble telescope has re-photographed the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, located 286 million km from Earth. The agency reported this on December 4.

"On November 30, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope re-observed the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. At that time, the comet was at a distance of about 178 million miles (286 million km) from Earth," the organization's website says.

As noted in the Telegram channel of the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of the IKI RAS, the 3I/ATLAS image presented looks clearer and brighter compared to previous images taken by amateur astrophotographers from Earth. At the same time, the telescope tracked the comet as it moved across the sky. It is noted that the device is sensitive in the optical and ultraviolet ranges, which also coincides with the sensitivity of the human eye.

The laboratory noticed that, despite the improved conditions for observations, it is not possible to consider significantly new elements due to the remoteness of the object. Hubble will continue to monitor 3I/ATLAS, which will allow us to see more accurate images of the comet, where, in particular, it is possible to make out the shape of the tail and the anti-tail of the object.

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On December 1, NASA's TESS space telescope discovered 3I/ATLAS, which is considered by a number of theories as a possible alien spacecraft, almost two months before it was officially registered by astronomers. The telescope, which has been operating in orbit since 2018, recorded the movement of the object between May 7 and June 2, 2025, 55 days before the official announcement of the discovery.

On November 29, astronomer, popularizer of astronomy and cosmonautics Alexander Kiselyov said that the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS will approach the Earth closest on December 19 — by about 270 million km, after which it will leave the vicinity of the Earth again.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.