Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS spotted with wild "wobbling jets"
NASA's ATLAS telescope in Chile recently discovered the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS—only the third visitor from outside our solar system ever seen.
What's cool? This comet shoots out huge, sun-facing jets that wobble every 7 hours and 45 minutes, creating a tail up to a million kilometers long as it gets closer to the Sun.
How scientists tracked its journey
Astronomers at Teide Observatory watched 3I/ATLAS for over a month this summer and noticed those jets showing up in August, revealing the comet spins about every 15 and a half hours.
Its coma even morphed into a dramatic anti-tail before swinging closest to the Sun in late October.
Where (and when) we saw it from Earth
The Hubble Space Telescope snapped photos of 3I/ATLAS back in July while it was still super far away—about 356 million miles from the Sun.
The comet made its closest pass by Earth on December 19 (still a safe distance at 168 million miles) and stayed visible through telescopes until September before disappearing behind the Sun and reappearing in early December.