3I/ATLAS, an interstellar comet, is exhibiting notable activity as it approaches the sun, resulting in the emission of a visible jet of ice and dust. This phenomenon has been captured in a striking new image.
The comet is ejecting material in the direction of the sun due to increasing temperatures on its surface. The composite image showcases the comet”s nucleus, depicted as a large black dot, surrounded by a white glow, which represents its coma or atmosphere. The jet, indicated in purple, is directed toward the sun, a behavior typical of comets as they near our star.
3I/ATLAS is recognized as the third known interstellar object to transit through our solar system and is rapidly approaching its closest point to the sun, scheduled for October 30. During this event, it will come within 1.8 astronomical units of Earth, making it observable through small telescopes before it disappears back into the depths of space.
A notification regarding the jet was disseminated on October 15 via the Astronomer”s Telegram, which serves as an announcement platform for the astronomy community and is overseen by Robert Rutledge, an associate professor at McGill University in Montreal. The footage of the jet was recorded on August 2 and combines 159 separate exposures, each lasting 50 seconds, taken with the Two-meter Twin Telescope located at the Teide Observatory in the Canary Islands.
“This is typical behavior,” stated Miquel Serra-Ricart, an astrophysicist and chief science officer at the Light Bridges research institution, which collaborates with Teide Observatory. Serra-Ricart shared the new images, which have not yet undergone peer review. He highlighted that the comet”s tail is oriented away from the sun, a common characteristic of such icy bodies.
As comets draw closer to the sun, they do not heat uniformly. The sunlit areas warm more rapidly, and if there are weaker spots on the comet”s surface, gases that have sublimated can erupt, leading to these jets directed towards the sun.
Estimates suggest that the jet could extend as far as 6,200 miles from the surface of 3I/ATLAS, which is more than double the width of the largest part of the United States. It is likely composed of carbon dioxide and dust particles, similar to the materials observed by the James Webb Space Telescope in August.
As the comet rotates, these jets may spread out, with some material remaining in the coma while the remainder is pushed into the tail by the solar wind. This behavior was also observed in comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, which was visible to the naked eye in 2020, as evidenced by images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
