New images of Atlas this time from a telescope in Rayong, Thailand , the object will make its closest pass of Earth on Friday , I'll be getting my frankincense and myrrh on Thursday in preparation.
![[Image: 1*CYQ3PaAu9uBGHmYao5XWKA.jpeg]](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:4800/format:webp/1*CYQ3PaAu9uBGHmYao5XWKA.jpeg)
![[Image: 1*mJ3XFlh0-KCYoRw2aCTGbA.jpeg]](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:4800/format:webp/1*mJ3XFlh0-KCYoRw2aCTGbA.jpeg)
Quote:Whereas an anti-tail had been seen for solar system comets as a temporary perspective effect when the Earth crossed the comets’ orbital plane, this is clearly not the case with 3I/ATLAS. The anti-tail was apparent in the first Hubble Space Telescope image, taken on July 21, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS was approaching the Sun from a geocentric distance of 2.98 times the Earth-Sun separation (AU) — as reported here and analyzed here, and was also apparent in the second Hubble image taken on November 30, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS was receding away from the Sun at a distance of 1.91 AU from Earth — as reported here. The anti-tail was also apparent in thousands of images taken in between these dates.
The anti-tail of 3I/ATLAS is therefore not a perspective effect. It is a real physical jet, with a glow extending from 3I/ATLAS towards the Sun. Its nature is a mystery because gas and micrometer-dust particles are expected to be pushed away from the Sun by solar radiation pressure and the solar wind, creating the appearance of a tail — as routinely seen in solar-system comets. There was no mention of this mystery at the NASA press conference about 3I/ATLAS on November 19, 2025 (accessible here).
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/3i-atlas-sti...0fa24f136a