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International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Christelle May Napiza

NASA's Jupiter Probe Snaps Alien Comet 3I/ATLAS In Invisible Light — And What It Reveals Will Blow Your Mind

NASA Jupiter Earth Europa Solar System Sun Europa Clipper
The newest 3I/ATLAS image captured on 30 December 2025. (Credit: The Virtual Telescope Project)

A spacecraft en route to Jupiter has captured unprecedented ultraviolet images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, providing scientists with new clues to the composition of the most ancient traveler ever observed within the Solar System.

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, launched in October 2024 and destined to study Jupiter's icy moon Europa in 2030, unexpectedly observed comet 3I/ATLAS on 6 November 2025. Using its onboard ultraviolet instrument, Europa Clipper recorded data on the comet's elusive coma, the cloud of gas and dust that envelopes its nucleus, which the unaided human eye cannot detect.

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