In an exciting development for astronomers, both the Hubble Space Telescope and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer have recently provided new images of an interstellar comet as it prepares for its closest approach to Earth this month.
Discovered in July, Comet 3I/ATLAS has piqued the interest of scientists worldwide. Originating from beyond our solar system, its unexpected journey through our cosmic neighborhood makes it a rare spectacle. So far, it is only the third interstellar object to have been observed traversing our solar system, prompting a flurry of focused astronomical studies.
Meanwhile, an image taken by the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice, mission en route to study Jupiter and its icy moons, shows intriguing activity around the comet.
The moons likely host subsurface oceans beneath their icy crusts that could support life.
The spacecraft used five of its scientific instruments, as well as its onboard Navigation Camera, or NavCam, to glimpse the comet.
Most of Juice's data won't arrive on Earth until February because the spacecraft is using its main antenna as a heat shield to protect it from the sun during its long journey to Jupiter.
The Juice team didn't want to wait that long, so they downloaded a quarter of a single image taken by NavCam.
The image shows heat-driven activity on the comet during its close pass by the sun.
As comets approach stars like our sun, they heat up, forming tails of sublimating material that streak behind them.