Hubble Space Telescope takes best picture yet of the comet visiting from another solar system
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the best picture yet of a high-speed comet visiting our solar system from another star.
NASA and the European Space Agency released the latest photos Thursday.
Discovered last month by a telescope in Chile, the comet known as 3I-Atlas is only the third known interstellar object to pass our way and poses no threat to Earth.
Astronomers originally estimated the size of its icy core at several miles (tens of kilometres) across, but Hubble's observations have narrowed it down to no more than 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometres). It could even be as small as 1,000 feet (320 metres), according to scientists.
The comet is hurtling our way at 130,000 mph (209,000 km/h), but will veer closer to Mars than Earth, keeping a safe distance from both. It was 277 million miles (446 million kilometres) away when photographed by Hubble a couple weeks ago. The orbiting telescope revealed a teardrop-shaped plume of dust around the nucleus as well as traces of a dusty tail.
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Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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In 1994, he and Jeff Kluger wrote 'Lost Moon,' the story of the Apollo 13 mission and the basis for the film 'Apollo 13.' In one of the final scenes, Lovell appeared as a Navy captain, the rank he actually had. He and his family ran a now-closed restaurant in suburban Chicago, Lovell's of Lake Forest. His wife, Marilynn, died in 2023. Survivors include four children. In a statement, his family hailed him as their 'hero.' 'We will miss his unshakable optimism, his sense of humour, and the way he made each of us feel we could do the impossible,' his family said. 'He was truly one of a kind.'
