When you buy through our articles links, Future and its syndication partners can earn commissions.
The Hablo Space Telescope was taken by the interwar comet 3I/Atlas. | Credit: NASA/ESA/David Jewitt (UCLA)/Image Processing: Joseph Depasquale (STSCI)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing for an exclusive opportunity to explore interstellar comet 3i/atlas from what could be the best point of the solar system.
Astronomers 2025 1 July A rare and extraordinary discovery of an interstellar object in our own solar system, causing scramble to investigate a mysterious visitor. Since then, the object has been named 3I/Atlas, where 3i is “third interstellar” and appointed C/2025 N1 (Atlas).
As it turns out, it can be Mars, not the observations of the Earth, who look at the comet to us closest to us. 3I/Atlas will approach about 18.6 million miles (30 million kilometers) to Mars, while it will only travel 168 million miles (270 million km) land. This means playing spacecraft in orbit.
Colin Frank Wilson, a scientist of the ESA Martian orbit project, confirmed that the agency is about to try to monitor the 3I/Atlas of the interstellar object through his passage through the solar system.
“We can confirm that we are planning to monitor 3i/Atlas at about a time when Mars has been in the nearest approach,” Wilson said. “This is projected to take place on October 3, 2025. The object will still be about 30 million kilometers from Mars.”
ESA will use both Mars Express and Exomars to trace the gas orbit (TGO) spacecraft to monitor.
“We will try to get an object images using a high definition stereo chamber (HRSC) Mars Express, as well as with the color and stereo surface portraying system (Cassis) TGO,” Wilson explained.
Illustration of Mars Express spacecraft. | Credit: ESA, C. Carreau
The comet will be too far away to look close. However, if 3i/Atlas is bright enough, HRSC may mention whether it is elongated, spherical or irregular. The first discovered interstellar intellectual, 1i/’oumuamua, was unusually elongated and more asteroid, while 2i/Borisov was more like a typical comet. Meanwhile, Cassis could provide insight into about 3i/Atlas volatile activities and its composition.
“We will also try to measure the spectrum of the object using TGO nomads and Mex Omega and Spicam spectrometers,” Wilson said.
These useful loads can eradicate molecular signatures such as water vapor or organic matter, 3I/atlas in coma, if it becomes active. “But we have no great hope that the signal will be bright enough for spectral description,” Wilson said.
There are other spacecraft around Mars that can be repeated to use 3i/Atlas in terms of close approach. These include NASA’s aging Martian atmosphere and volatile evolution (Maven) orbit and Mars intelligence (MRO). China also has its own Tianwen-1 orbit, which has a high-resolution camera similar to MRO.
The spacecraft exploring the worlds outside Mars can also look at 3I/Atlas. For example, the ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (juice), which was released in 2023. April And it is planned to come to the Jovian system in 2031. In July
“The juice spacecraft is also planning observations,” said Joern Helbert, Head of the Solar System Department at Space.com. “Due to restrictions on thermal spacecraft, they are limited to November this year and are planned to use four instruments.”
Related stories
-The star invading comet 3i/Atlas could be explored from these spacecraft as it races through the sun: “It can be literally an opportunity for a lifetime.”
-Why scientists are so worried about the new interstellar comet 3i/atlas (op)
– James Webb Space Telescope first looks at the Interstellar comet 3i/Atlas with unexpected results
And T. Marshall Eubenks and others. The document provided. Note that the spacecraft, including Europa Clipper, Hera and even further Lucy probe, may pass through 3I cometary tail during that period after the nearest approach to the sun or perhelion.
ESA was considering using a hera probe, which in October began to visit asteroids of magnitude and dimorphas to investigate the mission of NASA’s darts (double asteroid redesign test) mission – to look for 3i/atlas. However, the comet was considered too weak and poorly lit from Herra’s location.
Closer to the Earth NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently taught its volume 3i/atlas for the first time, producing unexpected results.