Tomorrow NASA finally shows their HiRise, triple current best resolution images. In ~4 days a CME (sun coronal mass ejection) is expected to slam into a now very active 3I/Atlas — potential for spectacular tail disconnection event or brightening.
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb explains how Tianwen-1’s high-resolution Mars-orbit imagery has refined the comet’s path with ten-times more accuracy, exposing subtle non-gravitational forces and motion patterns that Earth-based telescopes missed. Loeb breaks down what this improved tracking means for planetary-defense modeling, why 3I/ATLAS may be reacting to sunlight and plasma in unfamiliar ways, and how these measurements could reshape our understanding of interstellar debris.
Incoming solar impact
→ New coronal mass ejection (CME) launched Nov 17–18 from the same active sunspot region responsible for recent Earth geomagnetic storms
→ Modelled as a direct hit on 3I/Atlas around November 22, ~12:00 UTC
→ CME is travelling slightly above the ecliptic plane — matches the object’s current position
→ Past CME-comet interactions have caused tail disconnections and dramatic magnetic field spikes (30→300 nT). Similar dramatic changes are possible here.
Current appearance & activity (much more active than 2–3 weeks ago)
→ Clear, large diffuse coma (previously estimated ~700,000 km wide — half the Sun’s diameter)
→ Prominent ion/dust tail now visible
→ Multiple persistent jets including a sunward-facing (anti-tail) jet
→ Object is awake and energizing post-perihelion (Oct 29)
Physical properties still highly uncertain
→ Nucleus size estimates range wildly: 2.8 km (Hubble July data) up to ~50 km suggested by some analyses
→ Rotation period ~16 hours (slow tumble)
→ Persistent narrow jets despite rotation explained by plasma physics: electromagnetic fields and electric gradients in the huge dusty-plasma environment can channel and stabilize outflows
Viewing & imaging tips emphasized
→ 3I/Atlas is dim — good images require long exposures + stacking many frames to boost signal-to-noise
→ Live telescope streams without stacking only show a faint blurry dot. Stacked professional/amateur images clearly reveal tail and jets.
Future observing conditions improving fast
→ Geometry getting much better after solar conjunction. Tail will become easier to see sideways-on
→ Closest approach to Sun was Oct 29. Closest to Earth is December 19, 2025
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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