Astrophotographer Captures Stunning New Image of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
A member of the ICQ Comet Observations group has published a new image of 3I/ATLAS, the third object and the second comet from outside the solar system have been confirmed.
This image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured with the Celestron EdgeHD 800 telescope on November 16, 2025. Image credit: Satoru Murata.
3I/ATLAS was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, on July 1, 2025.
The comet’s orbit is the most dynamically extreme object ever recorded in the solar system.
3I/ATLAS, also known as C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) and A11pl3Z, reached its closest point to the Sun on October 30, 2025.
The same 3I/ATLAS image on a coordinate grid. Image credit: Satoru Murata.
On November 16, 2025, Satoru Murata of the ICQ Comet Observations group observed the comet using the 0.2 m Celestron EdgeHD 800 telescope.
The new images show three distinct jets toward the Sun and one jet away from the Sun.
“I captured the interstellar comet early in the morning as a thin crescent Moon passed right next to it,” said Murata, based in New Mexico, US.
“I still managed to capture three separate jets of ion tail and one anti-tail? Or the dust tail?”
“The comet was also passing by the galaxy NGC 4691, which really made the object appear like it was from another world,” he added.
