NASA released the treasury comet 3I/ATLAS images, giving us some of the closest images yet of the interstellar visitor.
The US government shutdown, which lasted from October 1 to November 12, delayed the release of the long-awaited images, which include images taken by instruments around Mars and the Sun over the past few months.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) captured this airborne image of the comet. NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The scanner spotted Comet 3I/ATLAS as it passed Mars in early October.
Although the comet was much closer to Mars in October than it will ever get to Earth, it still wasn't that close. This image was taken when the comet was about 19 million miles (30 million kilometers) from MRO. For reference, the average distance of the Moon from Earth is about 239,000 miles (384,000 km). The bright dot represents the main body or nucleus of the comet, and the diffuse cloud of particles around it represents the 3I/ATLAS coma, a feature common to most comets that are heated by the Sun as they pass through our Earth. solar system.
The Mars Atmosphere and Unstable Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter captured this strange ultraviolet image of comet 3I/ATLAS near Mars (relatively speaking) on September 28th. The MAVEN Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph uses the ultraviolet portion of the light spectrum to decipher the chemical composition of objects. according to NASA.
The blue color in the image is hydrogen. The blue dot on the left represents hydrogen emitted by Comet 3I/ATLAS, and the bright blue dot on the right represents hydrogen emitted by Mars. The faint blue oval in the middle is background hydrogen flowing through the solar system between the planets. Researchers hope to use observations like these to better understand the comet's composition.
NASA released this GIF of Comet 3I/ATLAS, created using images obtained by the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission between September 28 and October 10. PUNCH Mission consists of four small satellites in low Earth orbit, oriented towards the Sun. Comet 3I/ATLAS is the white dot at the center of the image, moving in a blur of starlight. The bright droplet rushing past the comet is Mars.
Comet 3I/ATLAS is a beautiful pink color in this observation, thanks to color images taken by the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO-A) spacecraft. According to the report, the Heliocentric Imager-1 (H1) instrument on board STEREO-A captured a visible light image, which was then colorized to distinguish it from images from other spacecraft. NASA.
Another image taken by the Solar Orbiter, this time with European Space Agency and NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The SOHO mission was launched back in 1995 and is reported to be the longest-running solar satellite to date. NASA. SOHO captured this image of Comet 3I/ATLAS between October 15 and October 26. the comet brightened on its way to its closest approach to the Sun.
This latest GIF isn't particularly impressive, but it was taken from the surface of Mars and it's pretty cool if you ask us. NASA's Perseverance rover looked up to watch a comet fly past the Red Planet on October 4. At that time, Perseverance was exploring the Jezero Crater. searching for ancient signs of life.
Since discovery of comet 3I/ATLAS in July there was much speculation that this interstellar visitor could be alien spaceship. However, most astronomers are confident that 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet from unknown star system. NASA was keen to emphasize that the comet was of natural origin when it unveiled new images during a broadcast on Wednesday (November 19).
“This object is a comet,” said NASA's associate administrator. Amit Kshatriya said during the stream. “It looks and behaves like a comet… and all evidence points to it being a comet. But this one comes from outside the solar system, which makes it fascinating, exciting and very important from a scientific point of view.”
