New Image of 3I/ATLAS Reveals A Long, Rigid Structured Sunward-Facing Jet That’s Pointing The Wrong Way – And Staying There

That balance point occurs at approximately 5,000 kilometers from the nucleus.

This distance is not theoretical. It matches the observed size of the coma itself.

In plain language, if 3I/ATLAS is a normal comet, gas cannot remain in a sunward jet beyond the visible halo. Any structure extending far past that boundary must be composed almost entirely of solid dust grains, not gas.

Dust behaves differently. Larger grains—on the order of ten microns—are less affected by solar radiation pressure and can continue traveling sunward for much greater distances before being slowed or deflected. This explains why anti-tails exist at all. However, dust-only streams tend to broaden, curve, and disperse. They do not remain narrow, rigid, and sharply collimated over extreme distances.

The jet visible in this image challenges that expectation.

Its length suggests a transport mechanism that maintains directional coherence. Its narrowness suggests confinement. And its persistence across multiple observations argues against a transient or chaotic release.