Sharp Hubble Images Confirm 3I/Atlas as Comet

Summary

Astronomers at the Pan-STARRS Observatory in Hawaii made history in 2017 when they detected 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object (ISO) ever observed.Two years later, the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov became the second ISO ever observed. And on July 1st, 2025, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Rio Hurtado detected a third interstellar object in our Solar System, the comet now known as 3I/ATLAS (or C/2025 N1 ATLAS).Like its predecessors, the arrival of this object has fueled immense scientific interest and led to proposals for missions that could rendezvous with future ISOs.Related: Astronomers Have Traced Our New Interstellar Comet's Origin, And It's a FirstExamples include Project Lyra, the Interstellar Object Explorer (IOE), and the ESA's Comet Interceptor. However, a recent paper led by Prof. Abraham Loeb of Harvard University explores the possibility of rendezvousing with 3I/ATLAS using a mission that has been in space for years.This image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera on July 21, 2025. (NASA/ESA/UCLA/STScI)According to their analysis, NASA's Juno probe could intercept this latest interstellar object once it approaches Jupiter on March 16th, 2026, providing humanity with a close look at one of the most enigmatic classes of objects in the Universe today.Abraham Loeb is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and the Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) and the Galileo Project at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).He was joined by Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl, both of whom are distinguished scientists with the UK-based non-profit Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is). The paper detailing their proposal recently appeared online and is being reviewed for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.Loeb, Hibberd, and Crowl are no strangers to ISOs and the possibility of sending spacecraft to rendez...