New photos of interstellar comet approaching Earth released

The Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Juice probe have captured stunning new photos of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.

This space traveler, which originates from outside our solar system, is approaching Earth and will pass at its closest distance to our planet later this month.

Discovered in July, 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object ever recorded in our cosmic neighborhood, which has sparked great interest from astronomers around the world, writes CNN.

Hubble, which first captured a detailed image of the comet in July, observed it again on November 30. The latest image, taken from a distance of 286 million kilometers, is even clearer and more detailed thanks to the Wide Field Camera 3.

Meanwhile, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, which is traveling towards Jupiter and its icy moons, also managed to capture a photo of the comet.

In early November, the probe found itself in an ideal position, at a distance of about 66 million kilometers, and used five of its science instruments to observe.

The comet is surrounded by a cloud of glowing gas, but also has two distinct tails. One is a plasma tail, made up of electrically charged gas, while the other is a fainter dust tail, made up of solid particles ejected from the nucleus. This structure is typical of comets from our Solar System, which heat up near a star and eject material, creating distinctive tails.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will make its closest approach to Earth on December 19, when it will be about 270 million kilometers away. It poses no threat to our planet, as it will be on the other side of the Sun. For comparison, Earth is about 150 million kilometers from the Sun.Indeksonline/