Posted on 10/22/2025 1:06:38 PM PDT by Red Badger
Comet 3I/ATLAS is heading toward a rare encounter with NASA’s Europa Clipper, offering a unique opportunity to uncover secrets of the cosmos.
© Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, currently on its way to Jupiter, may soon encounter a unique scientific opportunity. The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is about to cross the path of the spacecraft’s trajectory, potentially showering it with charged particles from its ion tail. This rare alignment could provide the closest look yet at material from beyond our solar system, offering a glimpse into the distant star systems where such comets originated.
A Rare Interstellar Encounter
The idea that a spacecraft could directly sample material from an interstellar comet is a rare and exciting prospect. Interstellar comets, like 3I/ATLAS, travel through our solar system from regions outside the familiar boundaries of the Milky Way. While such objects have been studied from afar, there is little to no data on their internal composition or the environments from which they came. As Samuel Grant, a lead researcher from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, points out, the opportunity to analyze the comet’s ion tail offers an unprecedented chance to study these mysterious objects more closely.
“We have virtually no data on the interior of interstellar comets and the star systems that formed them,” Grant said. told Space.com. “Sampling the tail in this way is the closest we can currently get to a direct sample of such an object, and thus a different part of the galaxy.”
This ion tail, which is composed of particles ejected by the comet as it heats up near the sun, could provide clues about the comet’s composition and the star systems it originated from. Such a sample could offer a rare window into the distant reaches of space, potentially revealing information about the early solar system and the conditions that led to the formation of comets in other star systems.
This gif shows the trajectory of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (Image credit: NASA/JPL.)
What Makes 3I/ATLAS Special?
3I/ATLAS, first detected in 2017, is unique because it is the first known interstellar comet to visit our solar system. Unlike regular comets, which form in the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud within our solar system, 3I/ATLAS has traveled from another star system entirely. As it draws closer to the sun, its ice and dust start to vaporize, creating two distinct tails: a dust tail and an ion tail. The ion tail, which is formed by solar wind interacting with the comet’s gases, always points away from the sun.
Understanding the composition of this ion tail is crucial because it could help scientists distinguish between solar wind and cometary ions. The charged particles from 3I/ATLAS will contain heavier elements, particularly water-group ions, which differ from the lighter elements found in solar wind. This unique chemical signature could make it possible for Europa Clipper to identify particles that came from the comet itself rather than from the solar wind.
“We study cometary bodies because they act as time capsules, sealing in material from their formation billions of years ago,” Grant explained. “This material is ejected on approach to the sun, a portion of which is transported away from the sun by the solar wind to form the ion tail.”
Europa Clipper’s Opportunity to Capture the Ion Tail
The Europa Clipper spacecraft is currently en route to Jupiter, but during its journey, it may pass through a region of space where it could collect charged particles from the ion tail of 3I/ATLAS. The timing of this event is critical, as Europa Clipper will be in position between October 30 and November 6, 2025, to potentially collect these particles. However, there are several challenges that could prevent the spacecraft from taking full advantage of this opportunity.
One of the biggest hurdles is the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which has caused some concerns regarding the spacecraft’s instrument readiness. If the shutdown persists, Europa Clipper’s instruments may not be fully operational, which could prevent the collection of valuable data. Nevertheless, the alignment of the comet, spacecraft, and the sun presents an exciting opportunity for scientific discovery.
Grant and his colleague Geraint Jones of the European Space Agency have used a specialized computer program to predict this potential encounter. Known as Tailcatcher, this program tracks solar wind particles and their paths, helping scientists anticipate when spacecraft like Europa Clipper might cross into the ion tail of a comet. According to Grant,
“We use the velocity measured at [a packet’s] arrival to trace back the path it took to travel from the sun to the spacecraft, and we can compare this path to the position of the comet.”
What Can We Learn from the Charged Particles?
If Europa Clipper can collect particles from 3I/ATLAS’ ion tail, scientists will have the chance to compare them with the solar wind. Cometary ions are heavier and have distinct chemical compositions that set them apart from solar wind particles, which are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium. By analyzing these differences, scientists could learn more about the specific materials that make up the comet and, by extension, better understand the conditions in the distant star systems where it originated.
Grant elaborated on this, saying,
“Cometary ions can be distinguished in a number of ways, most simply by chemical abundances — cometary ions include significant amounts of heavier species, particularly water-group ions, compared to the proton and helium-dominated solar wind. Additionally, the act of loading additional mass into the solar wind causes a general slowing and deflection of the ambient solar wind flow.”
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Comet Ping!.................Pong.................
MORE INFO HERE:
Finally an improvement for serving man.
Lydia seems to be unclear about "interstellar" vs. "intergalactic".
Here are the sensors on the Europa Clipper:
https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/europa-clipper
An ice-penetrating radar instrument will map Europa’s ice and the possible lakes within, while the Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM) and Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) will together measure the moon’s magnetic properties to provide strong evidence of the subsurface ocean. They will also help determine the depth of Europa’s icy shell and ocean. Two sets of cameras operating at different wavelengths — the Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS) and the Europa Imaging System (EIS) — will map the moon’s surface and search for plumes. The SUrface Dust Analyser (SUDA) will look for small particles ejected from Europa that could trace potential plumes. And finally, three spectrometers called the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), and the Mass Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (MASPEX) will measure the composition of Europa’s surface and atmosphere to get a sense of the makeup of its hidden ocean.
Now this is actually exciting, IMHO...
The rest of the 3I/ATLAS keyword, sorted:
Pericles from the object could disassemble the Europa Clipper and use the material to rebuild 3I’s external structure ...
it’s very exciting. I hope we get tons of data. I just wonder what’s coming behind this stuff. Let’s hope a big chunk isn’t hurtling
“Now this is actually exciting, IMHO..”
Yes it is.
Despite the government shutdown a true “scientist” would volunteer and show up unpaid just for the chance to study this.
Rendezvous with Rama!
Lots of junk articles and videos out there on the 3I Atlas subject.
Have found this astrophysicist to offer straight forward points with decent updates even though the video titles seem ludicrous. If his data is accurate it’s some pretty crazy stuff.
Opinions ? Or anyone with better sources?
https://youtu.be/vHRqhWOHhM8?si=8-WAwxIT3usDlIjs
I thought it was the third one.
-PJ
Article says 3I Atlas was discovered in 2017?
Is that correct?
All other articles I read say 3I Atlas was discovered in July 2025.
From several other sources ... Say it was
ʻOumuamua first detected on October 19, 2017, by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii
So frustrating trying to get accurate info on this subject
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