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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Captures Close-Up Image of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

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Exciting new images from High-Resolution Image Science Experiment onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will enable astronomers to refine their estimates regarding the size of 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object that has passed through our solar system.

This image of 3I/ATLAS was captured by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 2, 2025. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.

On October 2, 2025, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) observed 3I/ATLAS from approximately 30 million km (19 million miles) away.

The MRO team utilized the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), which typically focuses on the Martian surface.

By maneuvering, the spacecraft can direct its camera toward other celestial objects. This method was previously employed in 2014 when HiRISE collaborated with MAVEN to examine the comet Siding Spring.

“Observations of interstellar objects are still infrequent, so each time we learn something new,” noted Dr. Shane Byrne, HiRISE principal investigator and researcher at the University of Arizona.

“We were fortunate that 3I/ATLAS came close to Mars.”

Captured at a resolution of about 30 km (19 miles) per pixel, 3I/ATLAS appears as a pixelated white sphere in the HiRISE images.

“This sphere is a cloud of dust and ice, referred to as a coma, that the comet emits as it travels past Mars,” the researchers added.

Further analysis of HiRISE images could assist scientists in establishing an upper limit on the size of a comet’s core, composed of ice and dust.

The images might also uncover properties of particles known as comas within the comet’s atmosphere.

Ongoing scrutiny of the images may reveal nuclear fragments and gas jets expelled as comets disintegrate over time.

“One of MRO’s greatest contributions to NASA’s Mars research is its ability to observe surface phenomena that only HiRISE can detect,” explained Dr. Leslie Tampali, MRO’s project scientist and a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“This opportunity allows us to study passing space objects.”

“Thanks to NASA’s versatile fleet of spacecraft throughout our solar system, we can continue to observe this dynamic entity from unique perspectives,” stated Georgia Tech researcher Professor James Ray, a HiRISE co-investigator.

“All three prior interstellar objects exhibit significant differences from one another and from typical Solar System comets, making every new observation incredibly valuable.”

“Being able to observe a visitor from another star system is extraordinary in itself,” remarked Dr. Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships at the University of Arizona.

“Doing so from a University of Arizona-led instrument orbiting Mars adds to its remarkable nature.”

“This moment highlights the ingenuity of our scientists and the lasting impact of this university’s leadership in space exploration.”

“HiRISE exemplifies how discovery tools can benefit both science and the public interest.”

Source: www.sci.news

Trace Gas Orbiter Reveals New Images of Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

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During its closest encounter with Mars on October 3, 2025, comet 3I/ATLAS was situated 30 million km from the ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).

The image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was taken on October 3, 2025, by the CaSSIS instrument aboard the ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter. Image credit: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS.

TGO acquired new images of 3I/ATLAS utilizing the Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS).

“This observation posed significant challenges for this instrument,” noted Dr. Nick Thomas, Principal Investigator of ESA’s CaSSIS instrument.

“3I/ATLAS appears as a slightly blurred white dot that descends toward the center of the image.”

“This point represents the nucleus of the comet, which comprises an icy, rocky core surrounded by a coma.”

“Due to the distance, CaSSIS couldn’t differentiate between a nuclear and a coma state.”

“The CaSSIS camera has an angular resolution of 11.36 microradians (equivalent to 2.34 arc seconds) per pixel,” explained Professor Avi Loeb from Harvard University.

“At a minimum distance of approximately 30 million km from 3I/ATLAS, this resolution translates to 340 km.”

“This pixel size is one to two orders of magnitude larger than the anticipated core diameters of 3I/ATLAS, which range from a minimum of 5 km to a maximum of 46 km.”

“Some of the expansion can be observed in CaSSIS images,” he mentioned.

“The passage of 3I/ATLAS across the Martian sky will be viewed by the Mars rover from an angle nearly perpendicular to the 3I/ATLAS-Sun axis, allowing for a side view of the glow surrounding 3I/ATLAS.”

“The width of the luminous glow around 3I/ATLAS in the CaSSIS image is approximately twice that of a bright star appearing as a background point source in the same image.”

“This span corresponds to a scale of 680 km, which is an order of magnitude smaller than the width seen in Hubble images.”

“Thus, it’s evident that CaSSIS only captures the brightest regions surrounding the core of 3I/ATLAS and cannot detect the low surface brightness envelope visible in Hubble images.”

From November 2 to 25, 2025, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Satellites probe will observe 3I/ATLAS with a range of instruments. Image credit: ESA.

“Our Mars rovers continue to contribute significantly to Mars science, and it’s always thrilling to see them respond to unforeseen scenarios like this,” remarked Dr. Colin Wilson, ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars project scientist.

“We eagerly await the insights the data will reveal following further analysis.”

Next month, ESA researchers are set to observe 3I/ATLAS with the Jupiter Icy Satellite Orbiter (JUICE).

While JUICE will be located further from 3I/ATLAS than last week’s Mars rover, the rover will detect the comet shortly after its closest approach to the Sun, indicating heightened activity.

“Observation data for JUICE is anticipated to be received by February 2026,” they noted.

Source: www.sci.news

Images of the Sun’s Poles Captured by Solar Orbiter

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All previously observed images were captured from the Sun’s equatorial region. This is due to the fact that Earth, along with other planets and operational spacecraft, orbits the Sun in a flat disk known as the zodiac plane. By adjusting its orbit away from this plane, the ESA Solar Orbiter spacecraft unveils the Sun from an entirely new perspective.

A lower-half image of the Sun, highlighting a square area around its Antarctic. Captured in ultraviolet rays, it reveals hot gases in the Sun’s corona, glowing yellow as they extend outwards with threads and loops. Image credits: ESA/NASA/SOLAR ORBITER/EUI Team/D. Berghmans, Rob.

Professor Carol Mandel, ESA’s Director of Science, remarked:

“The Sun, being our closest star, is essential for life but can also disrupt modern power systems in space and on Earth. Therefore, understanding its mechanisms and predicting its behavior is crucial.”

“The new and unique perspectives provided by the Solar Orbiter mission signal the beginning of a new era in solar science.”

The images were captured by three different scientific instruments on the Solar Orbiter: Polarimetry and Helioseismology Imager (PHI), Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), and Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE).

“Initially, I was uncertain of what to anticipate from these observations. The solar pole is truly a Terra Incognita,” said Professor Sami Solanki, leader of the PHI team at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.

This collage shows the Antarctic of the Sun captured on March 16-17, 2025, as the solar orbiter observed from a 15° angle relative to the solar equator. This marked the first high-angle observation campaign just days before achieving its current maximum viewing angle of 17°. Image credits: ESA/NASA/Solar Orbiter/PHI/EUI/SPICE Team.

Each instrument on the Solar Orbiter observes the Sun differently.

PHI captures images of the Sun in visible light (top left) and maps its surface magnetic field (top center).

EUI images the Sun in ultraviolet light (top right), unveiling the corona, a multi-million-degree gas layer in the Sun’s outer atmosphere.

SPICE captures light from various temperatures of charged gases at the Sun’s surface, thereby revealing different layers of its atmosphere.

By analyzing and comparing observations from these three imaging instruments, we can understand how materials in the Sun’s outer layer move.

This could uncover unexpected patterns like polar vortices (swirling gases), reminiscent of those found around the poles of Venus and Saturn.

These innovative observations are crucial for understanding the solar magnetic field, particularly why it inverts every 11 years, aligning with peaks in solar activity.

Current predictive models for the 11-year solar cycle struggle to accurately forecast when and how the Sun will reach its peak activity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu4dcdgamm0

One of the primary scientific discoveries from Solar Orbiter’s polar observations is that the solar magnetic field is currently disordered in the Antarctic region.

While traditional magnets exhibit defined Arctic and Antarctic poles, magnetic measurements from the PHI instrument demonstrate that both polarities exist in the Antarctic region of the Sun.

This phenomenon occurs only briefly during each solar cycle when the magnetic field is reversed at the solar maximum.

Following this reversal, a single polarity gradually takes over the solar pole.

After 5-6 years, the Sun reaches the minimum phase of its cycle, during which its magnetic field is most organized, resulting in the lowest activity levels.

“How this accumulation occurs is not fully understood, so the timing of the solar orbiter’s high latitude observations is remarkably advantageous for tracking the entire process,” noted Professor Solanki.

PHI’s perspective on the solar magnetic field contextualizes these measurements.

The intensity of color (red or blue) signifies the strength of the magnetic field along the line of sight from the solar orbiter to the Sun.

The strongest magnetic fields manifest as two bands flanking the solar equator.

Dark red and blue regions highlight areas of concentrated magnetic fields associated with solar spots on the Sun’s surface (photosphere).

Additionally, both the Antarctic and Arctic regions exhibit red and blue spots, indicating a complex, constantly evolving solar magnetic structure on a smaller scale.

Another noteworthy discovery from the Solar Orbiter comes from the SPICE instrument.

This imaging spectrograph analyzes light (spectral lines) emitted by specific chemical elements such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, neon, and magnesium, at known temperatures.

Over the last five years, SPICE has employed this method to uncover processes occurring in various layers of the Sun’s surface.

For the first time, the SPICE team was able to utilize precise spectral line tracing to measure the velocity of moving solar material.

This technique, known as “Doppler measurement,” is named after the effect observed with an ambulance siren as it approaches and recedes, causing a change in pitch.

The resulting velocity map illustrates the movement of solar material within specific solar layers.

“Measurements from high latitudes, made possible with the Solar Orbiter, will revolutionize solar physics,” stated Dr. Frederic Aucele, leader of the SPICE team at Paris Sacree University.

Source: www.sci.news

Experience the stunning beauty of the sun in these Solar Orbiter photos.

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The sun’s upper atmosphere, or corona, seen in ultraviolet light

ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/EUI Team

These fiery images are the clearest views of the Sun ever seen by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

solar orbitera joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, is a state-of-the-art instrument that orbits the sun and has been sending information back to Earth since it arrived in 2020.

These images were taken in March 2023, when Solar Orbiter was less than 74 million kilometers from the sun. The photo above was taken using ultraviolet light and reveals the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, in great detail, showing billowing million-degree plasma exploding along the sun’s magnetic field lines. There is. Normally, bright light from the sun’s surface hides the corona. Therefore, the corona can only be seen when observing it by blocking visible light or using ultraviolet light, which typically occurs during solar eclipses.

To create this complete image of the sun’s corona, many smaller zoomed-in images had to be stitched together, resulting in this complete mosaic of 8000 pixels. In the future, Solar Orbiter will be able to obtain two such high-resolution photos of the Sun each year, according to ESA.

Visible Sun imaged by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft’s polarization measurements and solar seismic imager

ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/PHI Team

This second image shows what the sun’s surface, or photosphere, looks like when viewed from Solar Orbiter in visible light, the same light that our eyes can see . The temperature of this layer of the sun is approximately 4500-6000°C. The dark areas here are sunspots, which are cooler and emit less light than the surrounding areas.

Map of the Sun’s magnetic field measured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft’s polarization measurements and solar seismic imager.

ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/PHI Team

Observations using the spacecraft’s magnetic instruments show that the Sun’s magnetic field is concentrated around the sunspot region (see image above). The field directs charged particles away from these areas, cooling them and giving them a dark appearance.

Velocity map, or tachogram, showing the speed and direction of movement of matter on the visible surface of the Sun

ESA & NASA/Solar Probe/PHI Team

Solar Orbiter can also track the speed and direction of plasma as it moves across the Sun’s surface. In this velocity map (above), called a tachogram, blue represents movement toward the spacecraft and red represents movement away from the spacecraft. It shows that it diverges in its surroundings.

This collection of images helps scientists understand the behavior of the sun’s corona and photosphere. Solar Orbiter will also image never-before-seen images of the Sun’s poles at the top and bottom of the star. Currently, not much is known about the solar poles, and researchers expect these regions to look significantly different from the rest of the sun.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Stunning Images of Jupiter’s Moon Io Captured by NASA’s Juno Orbiter

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On February 3, 2024, NASA's Juno spacecraft made its second close approach to Io, the fifth and third largest of Jupiter's moons. Like the previous flyby on December 30, 2023, this second pass was approximately 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away. During the twins' flyby, the spacecraft's JunoCam instrument returned stunning high-resolution images and raw data. The flyby is designed to provide new insights into how Io's volcanic engines work and whether a global magma ocean exists beneath the volcanic moon's rocky, mountainous surface. has been done.

The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft imaged Io, the most geologically active object in the solar system, on February 3, 2024, from a distance of approximately 7,904 km (4,911 miles) . Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS.

Io is the innermost of Jupiter's four Galilean moons and the fourth largest moon in the solar system.

Its diameter is about 3,630 km (2,556 miles), making it only slightly larger than our moon.

It is the only place in the solar system other than Earth that is known to have volcanoes spewing hot lava like those on Earth.

Io has over 400 active volcanoes, which are caused by tidal heating. This is the result of a gravitational tug of war between Jupiter's gravity and the small but precisely timed gravitational pulls from Europa and Ganymede.

The moon's yellow, white, orange, and red colors are produced by sulfur dioxide, frost on its surface, elemental sulfur, and various sulfur allotropes.

The volcano was first discovered on the island of Io in 1979, and since then studies using NASA's Galileo spacecraft and ground-based telescopes have shown that eruptions and lava fountains occur constantly, forming rivers and lakes of lava. Masu.

Only 13 large eruptions were observed between 1978 and 2006, in part because fewer astronomers were scanning the moon on a regular basis.

The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft imaged Io on December 30, 2023, from a distance of approximately 5,857 km (3,639 miles). Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has been monitoring Io's volcanic activity from distances ranging from about 11,000 km (6,830 miles) to more than 100,000 km (62,100 miles), providing the first view of the moon's north and south poles .

On December 30, 2023, Juno came within approximately 1,500 km of Io's surface. The orbiter made her second close flyby of the Moon on February 3, 2024.

The second flyby mainly flew over Io's southern hemisphere, but previous flybys flew over Io's northern hemisphere.

Juno captured two plumes rising above Io's horizon on February 3, 2024. These plumes were emitted from two vents from one giant volcano, or from two volcanoes located close to each other. The JunoCam instrument photographed the plume from a distance of approximately 3,800 km (2,400 miles). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Andrea Luck.

“We investigate the source of Io's massive volcanic activity, whether there is a magma ocean beneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter that are relentlessly squeezing this beleaguered moon. doing.”

“There are active plumes, high mountain peaks with distinct shadows, and evidence of lava lakes, some of which look like islands.”

Starting in April 2024, Juno will conduct a series of occultation experiments that will use Juno's gravity science experiments to investigate the composition of Jupiter's upper atmosphere. This provides important information about the planet's shape and internal structure.

Source: www.sci.news