NASA is defending its official, fuzzy images of Comet 3I/ATLAS captured by its powerful HiRISE camera, even as amateur astronomers are now releasing substantially sharper views of the mysterious object. This unexpected comparison has ignited a debate over who is capturing the clearest cosmic portrait of the comet.
Enthusiasts had been waiting for high-resolution pictures of the third-ever interstellar visitor, exocomet 3I/ATLAS. However, the highly anticipated NASA broadcast, which was meant to release these unseen images of the unusual object, unfortunately fell short of their expectations.
