In November 2025, ESA’s Jupiter Ice Satellite Probe (Juice) utilized five scientific instruments to study 3I/ATLAS, marking the second interstellar comet ever identified in our neighboring universe. The spacecraft also captured fresh images of this interstellar traveler using its navigation camera (NavCam).
This image from ESA’s Juice spacecraft captures the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: ESA / Juice / NavCam / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
“Though the data from the scientific instruments won’t reach Earth until February 2026, our team was eager to see what we could find,” stated members of the Juice team.
“We opted to download just a quarter of a single NavCam image to test the waters.”
“To our astonishment, we clearly observed a comet, notably surrounded by signs of activity.”
“You can distinctly see the glowing gas surrounding the comet, referred to as the coma, along with indications of its two tails.”
“The comet’s ‘plasma tail,’ composed of electrically charged gas, stretches toward the top of the image.”
“A fainter ‘dust tail,’ made of tiny solid particles, can also be seen extending to the bottom left.”
Annotated version of the Juice image depicting interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: ESA / Juice / NavCam / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
The image of 3I/ATLAS was captured on November 2, during the initial observation window of Comet Juice.
This observation took place on November 4, just two days before Juice’s closest approach to the comet, approximately 66 million kilometers (41 million miles) away.
“On February 18 and 20, 2026, we will receive data from the five scientific instruments (JANUS, MAJIS, UVS, SWI, PEP) activated during the observation,” the researchers mentioned.
“This delay results from Juice currently using its main high-gain antenna as a heat shield against the sun, while a smaller medium-gain antenna transmits data to Earth at a slower rate.”
Even though Juice was situated farther from 3I/ATLAS than ESA’s Mars rover—which returned in October—it observed 3I/ATLAS shortly after the comet’s closest proximity to the Sun, suggesting a more active state.
“We anticipate clearer indications of this activity with data from our scientific instruments,” the scientists elaborated.
“This will encompass not only visuals from JANUS (Juice’s high-resolution optical camera), but also spectrometry data from MAJIS and UVS, compositional insights from SWI, and particle data from PEP.”
Source: www.sci.news
