When NASA and the European Space Agency unveiled Hubble’s latest shots, astronomers around the world buzzed: this is the sharpest view yet of comet 3I-Atlas, the high-speed visitor blazing through our solar system from interstellar space.
Spotted just weeks ago by a telescope in Chile, 3I-Atlas is the third known interstellar object to wander past us. Ground observations hinted its icy nucleus spanned tens of kilometers; Hubble’s precision now caps it at 5.6 km or smaller—potentially down to 320 m.
At a breakneck speed of 209,000 km/h, the comet will swing nearer to Mars than Earth, skirting both worlds by hundreds of millions of kilometers. Hubble snapped it from 446 million km away, unveiling a teardrop-shaped dust plume and a faint, dusty tail tracing its path.
These data-driven insights are more than numbers—they fuel fresh questions about how comets form in other star systems and what happens when they collide with the intense radiation of our Sun. For tech enthusiasts and thought leaders, Hubble’s success is a reminder of how global collaboration and cutting-edge instruments can unlock the universe’s secrets.
Whether you’re a space nerd, a digital nomad dreaming of Mars, or a young changemaker inspired by cosmic perspectives, Hubble’s interstellar snapshot proves that when nations unite in science, we all benefit from a clearer view of our place in the universe.
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Hubble telescope takes sharpest-ever image of an interstellar object
cgtn.com
