Key Metrics
14.32
Heat Index-
Impact LevelMedium
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Scope LevelNational
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Last Update2025-11-11
Key Impacts
Positive Impacts (3)
Event Overview
The monitoring of a rare interstellar comet with unique features highlights the prioritization of significant scientific events. Despite operational challenges, there is a continued focus on advancing astronomical knowledge and understanding.
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NASA and Federal Personnel Monitor Rare Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
Despite the U.S. government shutdown, NASA and other federal personnel are monitoring the rare interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it travels through the solar system. The comet, which has sparked global interest due to its unusual features, including two antitail jets and a longer collimated jet, will make its closest approach to Earth on December 19, 2025, at a distance of 269 million kilometers. A probe will examine 3I/ATLAS from 53 million kilometers on March 16, 2026. The sunward antitail jets and tail jet of 3IATLAS span approximately 0.95 million and 2.85 million kilometers, respectively. These scales are three orders of magnitude larger than the glowing halo observed in the Hubble Space Telescope image from July 21, 2025. The jets suggest ejection times of 3 months for the tail and 1 month for the antitail, with the antitail jets extending up to 1 million kilometers, indicating a ram pressure exceeding that of the solar wind at that distance. The mass flux from the jet is 2 million kilograms per second per million square kilometers. NASA experts are scheduled to discuss the object with at least one congressional lawmaker on Wednesday, following a request for more imagery. A Pentagon official stated that the comet is not considered a national security threat.