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Juice Spacecraft Snaps Surprise Photo of Comet 3I/ATLAS While En Route to Jupiter

Toulouse, France – The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft has captured a surprising image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS while on its journey to Jupiter. The unexpected photograph, taken by Juice’s Navigation Camera (NavCam) on November 2, 2025, offers a tantalizing glimpse of the comet’s activity, despite the camera’s primary purpose being for navigation around Jupiter’s moons.

During November 2025, Juice observed 3I/ATLAS using five of its scientific instruments, to collect information about how the comet is behaving and what it is made of.

The image reveals the comet’s glowing coma, a halo of gas surrounding the nucleus, as well as hints of both a plasma tail and a fainter dust tail. The plasma tail, composed of electrically charged gas, extends upwards in the frame, while the dust tail, made of tiny solid particles, stretches towards the lower left.

“The Juice team were eager to get a first look at the data,” said an ESA spokesperson. “Instead of waiting for the full data download in February 2026, they downloaded a quarter of a single NavCam image and were surprised by the clarity.”

The image was taken two days before Juice’s closest approach to 3I/ATLAS, at a distance of approximately 66 million kilometers. While Mars orbiters had previously observed the comet, Juice’s observation occurred just after 3I/ATLAS’s closest approach to the Sun, a period of increased activity.

While the NavCam image provides a compelling visual, scientists are eagerly awaiting data from Juice’s five scientific instruments, including JANUS (a high-resolution optical camera), MAJIS and UVS (spectrometers), SWI (composition data), and PEP (particle data). The full dataset is expected to arrive on Earth on February 18th and 20th, 2026. The delay is due to Juice currently using its main high-gain antenna as a heat shield, forcing it to rely on its slower medium-gain antenna for communication.

“We expect to see clearer signs of the comet’s activity in the data from the science instruments,” the spokesperson added.

For more information and updates on Juice’s observations of 3I/ATLAS, visit esa.int/3IATLAS.

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