Summary
The European Space Agency (ESA) captured new images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, showing a glowing halo of gas and two tails. This comet, the third of its kind, was discovered in July and poses no threat to Earth.
Key Facts
- The ESA's images show the comet with a glowing halo, known as its coma, and two different tails.
- The comet's tails consist of a plasma (charged gas) tail and a dust tail made of tiny solid particles.
- The comet was discovered on July 1 by a NASA-funded project in Chile.
- 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar comet observed; the others were 1I/`Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
- It poses no threat to Earth and will stay at least 240 million kilometers away.
- The JUICE mission took these images two days before its closest approach to the comet on November 4.
- The comet was closest to the sun at the time of the images, making it more active.
