On January 22, 2026, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured an unparalleled perspective of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it achieved near-perfect alignment with the Sun-Earth axis, revealing extraordinary jet structures and a notably extended anti-tail.
This image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured by Hubble’s WFC3 instrument on January 22, 2026, at 13:10 UTC. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Man-To Hui, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
“Interstellar entities offer singular prospects for the investigation of materials originating from exoplanetary systems,” stated Professor Abraham Loeb of Harvard University and Dr. Mauro Barbieri from the INAF-Padova Observatory in a recent publication within the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.
They further elaborated, “Regrettably for such research, we observed that 1I/Oumuamua did not exhibit any discernable gas or dust signatures, and 2I/Borisov was only observed at phase angles exceeding sixteen degrees relative to the Sun-Earth vector, never approaching opposition.”
On January 22, 2026, the celestial body identified as interstellar object 3I/ATLAS achieved an alignment with the Earth-Sun axis within an exceptionally narrow angular separation of merely 0.69 degrees.
At this particular juncture, our planet traversed a path virtually directly between the Sun and the comet.
“This infrequent celestial configuration precipitated a significant augmentation in brightness, with its intensity and rate of increase being contingent upon the elemental composition and structural arrangement of particles ejected by 3I/ATLAS’s jets,” Professor Loeb elucidated in a statement.
This image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured by Hubble’s WFC3 instrument on January 22, 2026, at 13:40 UTC. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Man-To Hui, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
Man-To Hui, an astronomer affiliated with the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, employed the Hubble telescope to conduct observations of 3I/ATLAS under conditions described as potentially not recurring for several decades.
The visual data acquired from this interstellar object was generated utilizing Hubble’s imaging instrument, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).
Professor Loeb further detailed, “Upon the processing of the Hubble imagery from the January 22, 2026 alignment by my collaborator, Toni Scarmato, the residual analysis revealed a system comprising four distinct jets. This included a particularly prominent anti-tail oriented almost directly toward the Sun and Earth, augmented by the presence of three smaller jets.”
He elaborated on the jet formation, noting, “These secondary jets are uniformly spaced, with each separated by an angular interval of 120 degrees. One of these jets appears faint, possibly due to its orientation being unfavorable for observation from Earth.”
