Telescope reveals a rising tail on the comet that is visiting from one other star

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Telescope observations reveal a rising tail on the comet that’s visiting from one other star.

Released Thursday, the images taken by the Gemini South telescope in Chile late final month are essentially the most detailed but of the just lately found comet. They present a large coma of mud and gasoline across the ice ball because it speeds towards the solar, and likewise a tail that’s extra prolonged than it was in previous shots.

These new pictures affirm that the comet is turning into extra energetic because it plows harmlessly by way of our photo voltaic system, in accordance with the National Space Foundation’s NoirLab, which operates the telescope. It’s solely the third recognized interstellar object to enterprise our manner.

As of Thursday, the comet often known as 3I-Atlas was 238 million miles (384 million kilometers) from Earth and rising ever nearer, in accordance with NASA. It will make its closest method to the solar on the finish of October after which go closest to Earth in December from 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) away — farther from Earth than the solar.

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