NASA Is About to Drop Photos of 3I/ATLAS At Its Weirdest

 

What is 3I/ATLAS?

Interstellar comet: 3I/ATLAS is as it were the third affirmed interstellar question (i.e., from exterior our sun powered framework) that we’ve watched. 

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Discovery: It was found on July 1, 2025 by the Chart book overview telescope in Chile. 

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Orbit: It’s on a hyperbolic direction, meaning it’s fair passing through — not bound in circle around the Sun. 

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Speed: When found, it was moving amazingly quick — around 137,000 mph (or ~221,000 km/h). 

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Closest approach to Sun: Its perihelion (closest point to the Sun) was almost Oct 30, 2025, at ~1.4 AU (fair interior Mars’ circle). 

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Distance from Soil: It never comes super near — at its closest, it’s still ~1.8 AU absent (~170 million miles). 

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What’s So Odd Approximately It

This comet is not carrying on like a “normal” comet, and that’s activating a parcel of energy (and speculation):

Dust cocoon: Hubble took a picture on July 21, 2025, and saw what they called a “teardrop-shaped cocoon” of tidy coming off the core. 

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Strange gas composition: Perceptions from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) propose the coma (the cloud of gas/dust) is overwhelmed by CO₂ (carbon dioxide), more than what’s normal for comets. 

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The CO₂-to-water proportion is exceptionally tall compared to normal comets. 

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They moreover identified water ice, CO, OCS, tidy, etc. 

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This proposes the core might be exceptionally wealthy in CO₂, perhaps since of how/where it shaped. 

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Color and brightness changes:

Photometry from the Map book arrange appears the comet’s color advancing. Early on, it was “reddened,” but afterward it moved to a more unbiased (solar-like) color. 

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That alter coincides with the appearance of a more unmistakable tail. 

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Acceleration irregularities: Spectators report non-gravitational speeding up — meaning its movement doesn’t coordinate fair gravity + standard outgassing. A few of the required material science to clarify that with normal comet outgassing is exceptionally difficult to accommodate. > From Reddit:

“The center conundrum … force preservation requires what vitality material science forbids.” 

Reddit

Tail characteristics: Agreeing to a few novice and proficient observers:

There’s a “sunward (anti-tail) jet” — fabric gushing toward the Sun, which is lovely abnormal. 

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This kind of include is not ordinary for comets, and individuals are debating what’s driving it. 

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Mass misfortune / lost mass: A few eyewitnesses claim that if the measured speeding up came fair from outgassing, the comet would have to lose a colossal division (or a parcel) of its mass — but they don’t see the anticipated flotsam and jetsam cloud or a monster tail. 

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Age and root: There’s hypothesis (and a few modeling) that 3I/ATLAS seem be much more seasoned than comets from our sun powered framework. 

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Why NASA Is Dropping (or Approximately to Drop) More Images

Media Occasion: NASA reported a live occasion for Nov 19, 2025 (3 p.m. EST) at Goddard Space Flight Center to share symbolism of 3I/ATLAS that’s been collected by numerous of its missions. 

NASA

Multiple Missions Included: Concurring to NASA, they’re utilizing a parcel of resources to watch the comet — not fair telescopes, but shuttle as well: Hubble, JWST, TESS, Quick, Sphere, indeed Defaces meanderers and orbiters, Europa Clipper, Parker Sun based Test, SOHO, and more. 

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High Logical Esteem: Since 3I/ATLAS is interstellar and has odd composition, examining it can educate us around other star frameworks — how comets (or comet-like bodies) shape somewhere else, what materials they carry, and how they advance. 

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Size & Physical Properties: Hubble’s information (from July) made a difference set upper/lower limits on how huge it seem be: ~3.5 miles (5.6 km) in breadth max, in spite of the fact that it might be littler. 

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What Might Be Going On (Interpretations)

Given all the irregularity, there are a few speculations being coasted (by both researchers and the more theoretical corners). A few possibilities:

It is a comet, but exceptionally distinctive from commonplace solar-system comets: super wealthy in CO₂, with unordinary jet/outgassing behavior.

It might have shaped in a exceptionally diverse environment (around another star), which engraved a exceptionally diverse composition — perhaps close the CO₂ “ice line” in a few protoplanetary disk. 

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Some more extreme/controversial thoughts (from non-peer-reviewed theory) propose it seem be something more intriguing — e.g., something counterfeit. (Note: these are not standard science conclusions, but they’re being talked about in periphery communities.) > Illustration: “non-gravitational increasing speed … like a rocket engine” per a few Reddit claims. 

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There might be observational or investigation challenges: perhaps a few of what looks “weird” is due to how the comet is being watched, how the dust/dust grains carry on, or how diverse molecule sizes associated with daylight.