First good image released of interstellar object 3I/Atlas as it plunges through the solar system

Click for original image of 3I/Atlas.
Astronomers using the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii have obtained the first good image of the interstellar object 3I/Atlas, as it plunges within the orbit of Jupiter on its way through the solar system.
That picture is to the right, cropped to post here and overlaid on top of a map showing the interstellar object’s calculated path through the solar system.
The picture clearly shows this is a comet, with central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas. The data also suggests its nucleus has a diameter of about twelve miles. That it resembles a comet also suggests it is a dirty snowball, made up of ice and rocky material mixed together.
Because it will never get closer to the Sun then just inside the orbit of Mars, it is not likely it will ever get bright enough for naked eye observations. At the same time, it is large enough and will be close enough to make possible some excellent observations as it zips by and leaves the solar system sometime in the fall. The previous two identified interstellar objects, Oumuamua and Comet 21/Borisov, were either too small or too far away as they flew past to get this kind of good data.
Click for original image of 3I/Atlas.
Astronomers using the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii have obtained the first good image of the interstellar object 3I/Atlas, as it plunges within the orbit of Jupiter on its way through the solar system.
That picture is to the right, cropped to post here and overlaid on top of a map showing the interstellar object’s calculated path through the solar system.
The picture clearly shows this is a comet, with central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas. The data also suggests its nucleus has a diameter of about twelve miles. That it resembles a comet also suggests it is a dirty snowball, made up of ice and rocky material mixed together.
Because it will never get closer to the Sun then just inside the orbit of Mars, it is not likely it will ever get bright enough for naked eye observations. At the same time, it is large enough and will be close enough to make possible some excellent observations as it zips by and leaves the solar system sometime in the fall. The previous two identified interstellar objects, Oumuamua and Comet 21/Borisov, were either too small or too far away as they flew past to get this kind of good data.