Sept. 28, 2025
3I/ATLAS Is About to Buzz Mars and Jupiter - And Our Spacecraft Will Be Watching
3I/ATLAS is embarking on an extraordinary grand tour of our solar system, making close encounters with Mars, Venus, and Jupiter that seem almost too perfect to be coincidental. On October 3rd, it will pass just 18.6 million miles from Mars - closer than Earth ever gets to the Red Planet. Our robotic sentinels, from Mars orbiters to Jupiter's Juno spacecraft, are positioning themselves for humanity's most comprehensive study of an interstellar visitor ever conducted. Tonight we follow this cosmic ballet and the unprecedented scientific opportunities it presents.
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Calarogu Shark Media Welcome fellow cosmic voyagers to another mesmerizing
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episode of sleep from space. Tonight, we accompany three I
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Atlas on its extraordinary grand tour of our Solar System.
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As this interstellar visitor makes close encounters with several planets,
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offering our robotic sentinels unprecedented opportunities to study a messenger
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from another star. So settle in, close your eyes, and
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let us drift alongside this ancient wanderer as it dances
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through our planetary neighborhood. Imagine yourself floating in the vast
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darkness of space, positioned perfectly to witness three IYE Atlas
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as it embarks on what astronomers are calling the most
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scientifically valuable inter estellar flyby sequence ever observed. Unlike previous
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interstellar visitors that pass through relatively empty regions of our
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Solar System, three I Atlas has chosen a trajectory that
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will bring it remarkably close to several of our worlds.
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Three I Atlas is currently racing through space at incredible speeds,
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but its path through our Solar System reads like a
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carefully planned itinerary for the ultimate cosmic tourist. This interstellar
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wanderer will visit Mars, swing past Venus, approach Jupiter, and
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even provide distant glimpses for Earth based observers, a grand
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tour that seems almost too perfect to be coincidental. The
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first major encounter in this cosmic ballet occurs on October third,
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twenty twenty five, when three Ie Atlas will pass within
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just eighteen and a half million miles of Mars. To
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put this in perspective, this is closer than Mars ever
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comes to Earth during our planet's closest approaches. For an
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object that has traveled potentially billions of miles from another
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star system, this represents an extraordinarily intimate encounter with the
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Red planet. Picture the excitement building at mission control centers
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around the world as this date approaches. The European Space
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Agency's Mars Express and Exo Mars Trace Gas Orbiter are
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being carefully positioned and programmed to capture this historic moment.
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These robotic explorers, normally focused on studying the Martian surface
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and atmosphere, will turn their instruments skyward to observe our
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interstellar visitor. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, with its powerful high
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rise camera will attempt to capture detailed images of three
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I Atlas during this close approach. The camera's resolution will
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be efficient to distinguish features on the comet's nucleus if
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it's larger than about thirty kilometers across. These images could
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finally resolve the debate about whether we're observing a natural
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comet or something more exotic. From the perspective of Mars,
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three I Atlas will appear much brighter than it does
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from Earth, perhaps reaching magnitude eleven, bright enough to be
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easily visible to spacecraft instruments. The orbiters will study the
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comet's composition using spectrometers, analyze the structure of its coma
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and tail, and potentially detect gases and particles streaming away
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from its nucleus as we drift alongside three I Atlas
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continuing its journey. After the Mars encounter, the comet will
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reach its closest approach to our Sun on October twenty ninth,
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twenty twenty five. At this point, it will be racing
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through space at its maximum velocity forty two miles per
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seconds as it swings around our star at a distance
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of one hundred thirty million miles nestled perfectly between the
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orbits of Earth and Mars. During this closest approach to
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the Sun, three Eye Atlas will be hidden from Earth's
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view positioned on the opposite side of our star, but
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this solar conjunction won't last long. In early November, our
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interstellar visitor will emerge from behind the Sun, visible again
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in our pre dawn skies as it begins its journey
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back toward the outer Solar System. The grand tour continues
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on November third, when three Iye Atlas passes within sixty
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million miles of Venus. While this encounter won't be as
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close as the Mars fly by, it still represents a
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remarkable opportunity for comparative studies. The different solar wind conditions
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and magnetic environments around Venus will reve new aspects of
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how interstellar material interacts with planetary atmospheres. Throughout this period,
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Earth remains a safe spectator, with three Eye Atlas never
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approaching closer than one hundred sixty eight million miles from
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our world. This distance ensures our planet's safety while still
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allowing our most powerful telescopes to study the visitor. Ground
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based observatories and space telescopes will work in coordination with
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the planetary missions to create a comprehensive picture of this
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cosmic wanderer. Perhaps the most intriguing encounter awaits on March sixteen,
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twenty twenty six, when three IY Atlas will pass within
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thirty three million miles of Jupiter. By this time, the
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comet will be heading back toward interstellar space, but its
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encounter with the giant planet offers a unique scientific opportunity.
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NASA's Juno spacecraft, currently orbiting Jupiter, could potentially observe the
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interstellar visitor during this approach. The Jupiter flyby is particularly
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significant because it will occur when three I Atlas is
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well beyond its period of maximum solar heating. By this time,
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the easily sublimated carbon dioxide will have largely escaped, potentially
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revealing the comet's more refractory core materials. Observations during this
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phase could provide crucial clues about the object's internal structure
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and composition. Consider the cosmic choreography required for these encounters.
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Three I Atlas has been traveling through interstellar space for
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millions or billions of years, following a trajectory determined by
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the gravitational influences of its original stellar system, and perhaps
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chance encounters with other stars during its long journey. Yet
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it arrives in our Solar System with a path that
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brings it close to multiple planets during a period when
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humanity has the technology to study it. The trajectory of
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three I Atlas is remarkably well aligned with the ecliptic plane,
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the flat disc where most of our planets orbit. This
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alignment is so precise that statisticians calculate only a one
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in one hundred chance of such perfect positioning occurring by
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random chance. Some researchers wonder if this alignment might be
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more than coincidental, though natural explanations remain the scientific consensus.
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From the perspective of our robotic explorers scattered throughout the
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Solar System, three Eye Atlas represents an unprecedented opportunity. Never
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before have we had so many spacecraft positioned to observe
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an interstellar visitor from multiple vantage points simultaneously. The data
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collected during these encounters will provide the most comprehensive study
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of an interstellar object ever conducted. The European Space Agency's
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Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, known as Juice, will also attempt
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observations of three I Atlas in November two thousand twenty five,
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using its cameras, spectrometers, and particle sensors. While Juice is
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primarily designed to study Jupiter's icy moons, this unexpected opportunity
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to observe an interstellar visitor adds an exciting bonus objective
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to its mission. As we follow three I Atlas through
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this cosmic grand tour, we're witnessing something truly extraordinary, the
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first time an interstellar object has been tracked through our
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Solar system with such precision, an observed by multiple spacecraft.
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Each encounter provides a different perspective, a unique set of conditions,
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and new opportunities to understand this messenger from the stars.
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The Mars flyby will occur when three I Atlas is
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still approaching the Sun, actively outgassing and developing its tail.
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The Jupiter encounter will happen as it departs, potentially revealing
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different characteristics as solar heating diminishes. This temporal sequence provides
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a natural experiment in how interstellar material responds to varying
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levels of solar radiation. Picture the data streaming back to
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Earth from these various encounters, images revealing the comet's nuclear structure,
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spectra showing its chemical composition, measurements of the particles and
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gases it releases. Each observation adds another piece to the
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puzzle of understanding not just Three Eye Atlas itself, but
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the broader population of objects drifting between the stars. The
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close approaches also allow scientists to test theories about the
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object's true nature. If Three Eye Atlas exhibits any unusual
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behaviours during these encounters, unexpected maneuvers, artificial signals, or structures
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inconsistent with natural comets. Such anomalies would be most likely
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to be detected during the close observations possible near Mars
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and Jupiter. As you prepare for sleep tonight, imagine the
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robotic eyes turning skyward from Mars and Jupiter, patiently waiting
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to capture images of our interstellar visitor. Picture the delicate
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dance of orbital mechanics that brings worlds and wanderers together
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across the vast emptiness of space. Consider the remarkable fortune
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that has brought this cosmic messenger to our neighborhood at
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precisely the moment when we can appreciate and study its visit.
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