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Comet 3I/ATLAS Compass Image

Astronomical image. On upper left, the first line of the label reads Comet 3I/ATLAS dash July 21, 2025. The second line reads HST WFC3/UVIS F350LP. At the center of the image is a comet that appears as a teardrop-shaped bluish cocoon of dust coming off the comet’s solid, icy nucleus and seen against a black background. The comet appears to be heading to the bottom left corner of the image. About a dozen short, light blue diagonal streaks are seen scattered across the image, which are from background stars that appeared to move during the exposure because the telescope was tracking the moving comet. On the bottom left is a scale bar. The label 3 arcsec appears above the bar and 5,200 mi (8,300 km) appears below it. On the bottom, right corner are two, white directional arrows. The one pointing up is labeled N, while the one pointed to the left is labeled E. A third, yellow arrow appears with these arrows, pointed to the right and slightly upward. It is labeled To Sun.

This image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera on July 21, 2025.

The scale bar is labeled in arcseconds, which is a measure of angular distance on the sky. One arcsecond is equal an angular measurement of 1/3600 of one degree. There are 60 arcminutes in a degree and 60 arcseconds in an arcminute. (The full Moon has an angular diameter of about 30 arcminutes.) The actual size of an object that covers one arcsecond on the sky depends on its distance from the telescope.

The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).

This image shows visible wavelengths of light.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    At the time of observation, comet 3I/ATLAS was located at a distance of 3.8 au from the Sun

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    The Hubble observations include those from program 17830 (D. Jewitt)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    July 21, 2025
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F350LP
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Comet 3I/ATLAS
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Interstellar comet
  • Release Date
    August 7, 2025
  • Science Release
    As NASA Missions Study Interstellar Comet, Hubble Makes Size Estimate
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Downloads

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Astronomical image. On upper left, the first line of the label reads Comet 3I/ATLAS dash July 21, 2025. The second line reads HST WFC3/UVIS F350LP. At the center of the image is a comet that appears as a teardrop-shaped bluish cocoon of dust coming off the comet’s solid, icy nucleus and seen against a black background. The comet appears to be heading to the bottom left corner of the image. About a dozen short, light blue diagonal streaks are seen scattered across the image, which are from background stars that appeared to move during the exposure because the telescope was tracking the moving comet. On the bottom left is a scale bar. The label 3 arcsec appears above the bar and 5,200 mi (8,300 km) appears below it. On the bottom, right corner are two, white directional arrows. The one pointing up is labeled N, while the one pointed to the left is labeled E. A third, yellow arrow appears with these arrows, pointed to the right and slightly upward. It is labeled To Sun.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images were acquired by the WFC3 Instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning a hue (color) to a monochromatic (grayscale) image. In this case, the assigned color is: Blue: F350LP

Related Images & Videos

At the center of the image is a comet that appears as a teardrop-shaped bluish cocoon of dust coming off the comet's solid, icy nucleus and seen against a black background. The comet appears to be heading to the bottom left corner of the image. About a dozen short, light blue diagonal streaks are seen scattered across the image, which are from background stars that appeared to move during the exposure because the telescope was tracking the moving comet.

Comet 3I/ATLAS

Hubble captured this image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. Hubble shows that the comet has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off its solid, icy nucleus.

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 17, 2025
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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