The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on 6 August 2025 using its Near-Infrared Spectrograph. The research team is analysing Webb’s data, with a preprint now available online. Webb is one of several space telescopes studying this comet, helping to reveal its size, physical properties, and chemical composition. For example, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s recently launched SPHEREx mission have also observed it. While the comet poses no threat to Earth, such observations support astronomers in their ongoing mission to find, track, and better understand objects in our Solar System.
[Image description: Three-panel infrared image of comet 3I/ATLAS taken by JWST on August 6, 2025. The left panel shows the overall IR image with a bright white core fading to red, orange, and blue. The center and right panels show flux maps highlighting CO₂ at 4.3μm and H₂O at 2.7μm, respectively, with insets showing spectral line profiles confirming molecular signatures.]