JUICE spacecraft captured a striking image of interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS. The image revealed hints of two tails.
Scientists are awaiting full data from JUICE’s five instruments. The comet is set to make its closest approach to Earth
in December and to Jupiter in March next year. Many questions remain about its size, composition, and origin.
The European Space Agency’s JUICE spacecraft has captured a striking single image of the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS
using its NavCam, revealing for the first time hints of two tails. Though the camera is primarily designed for
navigation around Jupiter’s icy moons, it clearly showed the comet’s glowing coma and a plasma tail of electrically
charged gas pointing away from the Sun, along with a fainter dust tail curving along its trajectory. As 3I/ATLAS reached
its closest point to the Sun in October, the plasma tail grew noticeably. Scientists await full data from JUICE’s five
instruments, expected in February 2026.
ALSO READ: 3I/ATLAS: Harvard astrophysicist spots unusual objects surrounding interstellar visitor's 'Sunward Anti-Tail'
- Are they rocky fragments or something else?
Believed to be a comet, 3I/ATLAS is set to make its closest approach to Earth in December and to Jupiter in March next
year. Despite extensive observations from ground- and space-based telescopes, many questions remain about its size,
Last month, the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) used five of its science instruments to probe
the object’s properties. Following a Venus flyby in August to gain speed for its journey to Jupiter, JUICE’s NavCam
captured a preliminary image of 3I/ATLAS on November 2, just two days before closest approach, which occurred on
November 4 at a distance of about 66 million kilometers.
According to ESA, scientists were 'surprised' to see clear signs of activity as the Sun heated it. While detailed data
won’t reach Earth until February 2026, ESA shared the initial findings immediately.
JUICE’s NavCam, primarily designed to help the spacecraft navigate Jupiter’s icy moons in 2031 rather than capture
high-resolution cosmic images, nonetheless provided a striking glimpse of 3I/ATLAS. Even with only a fraction of a
single image’s data downloaded, scientists could clearly see the comet’s coma - the glowing halo of gas and dust
According to ESA, the image also revealed hints of two tails: a plasma tail of electrically charged gas pointing away
from the Sun, and a subtler dust tail, similar to that of a solar system comet, curving along its trajectory. As
3I/ATLAS reached perihelion in October, the plasma tail grew noticeably longer, a typical result of solar radiation
causing ices to sublimate.
JUICE’s five science instruments - JANUS, MAJIS, UVS, SWI and PEP - will eventually provide high-resolution data.
However, scientists will need to wait until late February for the full dataset, according to ESA, as JUICE is
temporarily using its high-gain antenna as a sunshield, relying on its smaller medium-gain antenna to transmit data at a
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