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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                   2025 August 9   
      
                   Interstellar Interloper 3I/ATLAS from Hubble   
         Image Credit: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA) et al. - Processing;   
                             Joseph DePasquale (STScI)   
      
      Explanation: Discovered on July 1 with the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid   
      Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado,   
      Chile, 3I/ATLAS is so designated as the third known interstellar object   
      to pass through our Solar System. It follows 1I/+.Oumuamua in 2017 and   
      the comet 2I/Borisov in 2019. Also known as C/2025 N1, 3I/ATLAS is a   
      comet. A teardrop-shaped cloud of dust, ejected from its icy nucleus   
      warmed by increasing sunlight, is seen in this sharp image from the   
      Hubble Space Telescope captured on July 21. Background stars are   
      streaked in the exposure as Hubble tracked the fastest comet ever   
      recorded on its journey toward the inner solar system. An analysis of   
      the Hubble image indicates the solid nucleus, hidden from direct view,   
      is likely less that 5.6 kilometers in diameter. This comet's   
      interstellar origin is clear from its orbit, determined to be an   
      eccentric, highly hyperbolic orbit that does not loop back around the   
      Sun and will return 3I/ATLAS to interstellar space. Not a threat to   
      planet Earth, the inbound interstellar interloper is now within the   
      Jupiter's orbital distance of the Sun, while its closest approach to   
      the Sun will bring it just inside the orbital distance of Mars.   
      
                         Tomorrow's picture: down the road   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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