We have known the 3i / Atlas comet for a little over four months, and astronomers around the world have been stunned with excitement. It is only the third interstellar object known to have crossed the solar system, among the thousands that should be here every day. The researchers used many different observatories to study this comet, and soon it will be the turn of an improbable mission.
This mission is the juice of the European space agency, and it will be revolutionary. It is an interplanetary spacecraft whose objective is to study Jupiter’s icy moons: GANYMEDE, CALLISTO and EUROPA. It will characterize the interior of these worlds, which are likely to hide a liquid ocean, and will even become the first spaceship to enter orbit around a Jovian moon: ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system and the only one with a magnetic field.
Everything that should happen in the early 2030s, and in the meantime, the juice moves slowly into the inner solar system. The path may seem special, with ground flies and Venus, but it allows the spacecraft to save fuel before going to Jupiter.
Welcoming a welcoming way, it will also be necessary juice relatively close to the 3i / Atlas comet, just after the comet experiences the aphelion, its passage closest to the sun. The comet will be 210 million kilometers (130 million miles) of the sun, and the juice will be 64 million kilometers (40 million miles). It is almost half the distance between the earth and the sun, which is 1 astronomical unit (at).
“Juice will observe 3i / Atlas between November 2 and 25. We will use 5 instruments: the camera, the near infrared imaging instrument, the UV spectrometer, the instrument less than the millimeter, and a sensor for the image of neutral atoms. We are far away (0.5 astronomical units), therefore declared Ifsscience.
Juice is designed to operate around Jupiter, so it was decided that the safest option is to take a look at the nearest proximity, then again a few weeks later, when it is sure to study it a little longer. The opportunity to check closely an interstellar comet could not be missed, and it is a new unforeseen test for the spacecraft.
“This campaign was unexpected for everyone!” For the juice, in fact, we are in a cruise phase during which there are thermal constraints, being relatively close to the sun (with regard to the scientific phase around Jupiter). Therefore, no payload activity should take place at the moment.
The comet is currently hidden by the glare of the sun, so to keep it last week, NASA and ESA deployed their robotic explorers on Mars. The first images of Mars may have been broken, and more data is on the way. Although it is exciting to use a spaceship to see new details of an interstellar object, the celestial alignment means that it will take a while for the data to arrive.
“Due to the position of the juice compared to the earth, the data flow is very low. We expect the data to be downloaded only in February 2026, so we must be a little patient,” said Witasse Iflcience.
COMETE 3i / Atlas will be closest to Earth on December 19, but not very close. It will be 268 million kilometers (167 million miles).
