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Hubble Space Telescope still took the best photos of fast comets visiting our solar system from another star.
NASA and the European Space Agency released their latest photos on Thursday.
Discovered last month by a Chilean telescope, the comet known as 3i-atlas is the third known interstellar object passing along our path and poses no threat to Earth.
Astronomers had originally estimated the size of a few miles of ice core, but Hubble’s observation reduced it to less than 3.5 miles. Scientists say it could be as small as 1,000 feet.
The comet rushes along our path at 130,000 mph, but maintains a safe distance from both, bringing us closer to Mars than Earth. When Hubble took the photo a few weeks ago, it was 277 million miles away. The orbital telescope revealed tear-shaped dust drops and dusty tail traces around the nucleus.
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The Associated Press School of Health Sciences is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institution’s Department of Science and Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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