Like a message in a bottle slipping past Earth, an interstellar comet may still be whispering clues about its origins before vanishing forever beyond the Sun’s reach. NASA scientists are racing to decode those signals as new observations sharpen the focus on comet 3I/ATLAS — a rare visitor from another star system.
TESS Turns Its Gaze From Planets to a Cosmic Wanderer
NASA’s planet-hunting Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) recently captured an unexpected target: interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. During a dedicated observation window from Jan. 15 through Jan. 22, TESS repeatedly monitored the comet as it sped outward from the solar system.
With its sweeping field of view, the spacecraft tracked the object as a luminous, fast-moving speck, trailing a delicate tail like chalk dragged across a blackboard of densely packed stars.
A 28-Hour Movie — With a Missing Scene
Using data from earlier January observations, Daniel Muthukrishna of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology stitched together the images into a 28-hour video that traces the comet’s path. The footage, however, is not seamless. TESS briefly entered “safe mode” after a problem with its solar panels, creating a noticeable jump in the timeline between Jan. 15 and Jan. 18.
Even so, the dataset is a scientific gold mine. Researchers hope NASA 3I/ATLAS comet spin gauging will reveal how actively the object is releasing dust and gas, and how fast its icy core is rotating — vital clues to understanding its physical makeup.
