3I/ATLAS Reaches Perihelion and Shows Unexpected Jets
It brightened and turned bluer, surprising astronomers.
Solar heating caused sublimation, creating jets with dust and carbon dioxide.
Stacked images showed a 500,000 km wide halo with seven jets.
Observers Jäger, Rhemann, and Prosperi noted sunward jets on November 8, 2025.
Researchers expect a gas cloud of 5 billion tons by November-December 2025.
Davide Farnocchia reported non-gravitational acceleration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Loeb's team will analyze data amid study delays.
3I/ATLAS will pass 97 million km from Venus in November 2025.
It will approach 267 million km from Earth, with Juno possibly detecting it near Jupiter in March 2026.
2 months ago