Astronomers from ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC), part of the Agency’s Planetary Defence Office, made these observations of the newly discovered interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on 2 July 2025.
Comet
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Discovery And Preliminary Characterization Of A Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS
We report initial observations aimed at the characterization of a third interstellar object candidate.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
NASA Discovers Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Moving Through Our Star System
On July 1, the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, first reported observations of a comet that originated from interstellar space. Arriving from […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Gas Giants, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
Asteroids Fail To Retain Cometary Impact Signatures
A bombardment of comets is thought to have occurred in the inner solar system as a result of a dynamical instability among the giant planets after gas disk dispersal.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Largest Oort Cloud Comet Ever Observed Reveals Its Secrets with ALMA’s Powerful Gaze
A team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery by detecting molecular activity in comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein)—the largest and second most distantly active comet ever observed from the Oort […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Alkali Phenoxides In Comets
Potassium was first detected in spectra of the sungrazer comet Ikeya-Seki at the heliocentric distance rh = 0.15 au and, 48 years later, in comets PanSTARRS and ISON at rh […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
Clues For Solar System Formation From Meteorites And Their Parent Bodies
Understanding the origin of comets requires knowledge of how the Solar System formed from a cloud of dust and gas 4.567 Gyr ago.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Beta Pictoris, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Exocomets of Beta Pictoris I: Exocomet destruction, sodium and disk line variability in 17 years of HARPS observations
The young β Pictoris system has been monitored with high-resolution optical spectrographs for decades. These observations have revealed strongly variable absorption in the Ca II H\&K lines attributed to in-falling […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Water Production Rates from SOHO/SWAN Observations of Comets C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) and C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
In 2022 and 2023 the hydrogen comae of two long period comets, C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) and C/2022 E3 (ZTF), were observed with the Solar Wind ANisotropies (SWAN) all-sky hydrogen Lyman-alpha […]
![[LEFT] 2018-07-17. Image taken with the Asiago Schmidt telescope with B, g, r filters. Comet Giacobini-Zinner moves fast in a very starrich field in the constellation Cygnus. The dust tail, which is reddened by the reflection of sunlight, is directed South-West, whereas the blue-green coma develops in a sphere around the nucleus. [RIGHT] 2018-08-08. A mathematical filter was applied to the original image, to highlight the morphology of the inner coma dominated by jet structures directed towards the Sun. These derive from small active areas placed on the nucleus. The tail develops in an antisolar direction. Image taken with the Asiago Schmidt telescope. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ASIACO-Asiago-Spectroscopy.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
ASIACO: Asiago Spectroscopy and Imaging Atlas of Comets
The ASIACO project is an atlas of cometary imaging and spectroscopy obtained from the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory between 2012 and 2024, still ongoing.