Tianwen-1 Capturesโ Rare Portrait of Interstellar Comet โฃ3I/ATLAS from Martian โขOrbit
Mars Orbit – china’s Tianwen-1 spacecraftโค has successfully captured a detailed image โof interstellar cometโ 3I/ATLAS,a remarkable technical achievement given the comet’s distance andโค faintness.The image, released by the โChinaโ National Space Governance (CNSA),โค provides โฃa unique perspective onโฃ the comet, whichโค recently โคbecame โvisible โagain โafter passing behind โฃthe Sun.
The observationโฃ is particularly โsignificant as 3I/ATLAS is โขonly the third confirmed interstellar comet to enter our solar system. Its visibility from Earth was temporarily โฃblocked as it traveled behind the Sun, prompting observations from probes in more favorable positions -โ namely, Mars. โฃ Tianwen-1 joinsโฃ the ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars trace Gas orbiter in โฃproviding crucial data on this visitor from another star system.
The CNSA โขhighlighted the challenges overcome to obtain the โimage.”This is the frist attempt to photograph suchโค a distant and relatively faint target (10,000-100,000 times fainter than a target on the surface of Mars),” the agency stated. Theโค Tianwen-1 team conducted extensive simulations and calculationsโ to maximize the capabilities of the probe’sโ high-resolutionโ camera, originally designed for studying the Martian surface.
The released image clearly shows the comet’s nucleus – its โrocky and icy core – and the surrounding coma, a cloud โof gas and dust formed by evaporating ice. the coma extends for several thousandโ kilometers, according to the CNSA.โ
The successfulโฃ imaging of 3I/ATLAS demonstrates Tianwen-1’s advanced capabilities โขand China’s growing role in deep-space observation. Interstellar comets offer scientists a rare prospect to study โคmaterials from beyond our solar system, potentially providing insights into the formation โขand evolution โฃof planetary systems around othre stars.