United Nations Launches Planetary Defense on 3I/ATLAS - New Images

The International Asteroid Warning Network has officially launched an observing campaign targeting 3I/ATLAS, marking the first time the organization has ever focused on an interstellar object. According to the official announcement from the Minor Planet Center, this campaign will run from November 27, 2025, through January 27, 2026. This is the same organization that tracks potentially hazardous asteroids and issued an alert earlier this year when asteroid 2024 YR4 appeared to be on a collision course with Earth. The campaign represents the 8th observing exercise since 2017.

New images captured by amateur astronomers over the past few days have provided some of the best views yet of 3I/ATLAS. The standout image, taken by Mitsunori Tsumura on November 22nd using a half-meter telescope, shows the object at approximately 300 million kilometers from Earth. According to Professor Avi Loeb’s analysis published on Medium, the tail in this image extends approximately 5 million kilometers, while the anti-tail, the unusual glow pointing toward the sun rather than away from it, extends about 1 million kilometers. To put that in perspective, Earth is about 12,700 kilometers in diameter, making this tail nearly 400 times the diameter of our planet. Additional images from Peter Carson Leigh on November 22nd and Elena Walter on November 24th show the same consistent structure.

Professor Loeb has identified what he is calling the 12th anomaly. Back in July and August, astronomers measured the rotation period of 3I/ATLAS at approximately 16 hours. The problem is that if the object is rotating every 16 hours while shooting out jets, those jets should appear smeared or spread out in the images, resembling spirals rather than straight lines. However, images from November 9th show tightly collimated jets extending over a million kilometers that appear straight, not smeared. According to Loeb, asymmetric outgassing typically speeds up rotation rather than slowing it down, making this observation difficult to explain through conventional means.

Latest images of 3I/ATLAS

According to Loeb’s latest calculations, the anti-tail is powerful enough to penetrate through the solar wind, which travels at about 400 kilometers per second. Based on his estimates, 3I/ATLAS has lost several billion tons of mass over the past two months. If this is a natural comet, that would represent roughly 10 percent of its estimated minimum mass. However, Loeb notes that to lose that much material through normal ice sublimation, the object would need a surface area much larger than what Hubble measurements suggest.

Looking ahead, 3I/ATLAS will make its closest approach to Earth on December 19, 2025, at a distance of approximately 270 million kilometers. On March 16, 2026, the object will pass Jupiter, arriving at precisely the distance where Jupiter’s gravity dominates over the sun’s gravitational pull, known as the Hill radius. According to Loeb, any objects released by 3I/ATLAS at this distance could remain in orbit around Jupiter rather than being pulled away by the sun. NASA’s Juno spacecraft will search for low-frequency radio signals during this encounter, covering frequencies from 50 hertz to 40 megahertz. The ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer has already observed 3I/ATLAS in November, though that data will not be available until February 2026. For observers hoping to spot 3I/ATLAS, the object is currently located in the constellation Virgo at magnitude 9 to 10, requiring at least an 8-inch telescope under dark skies.

Sources

FOX 32 Chicago. (2025, November 22). Avi Loeb Q&A: 3I/ATLAS, NASA images and “The Age of Disclosure” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2_w_lHIryQ

Images of 3I/ATLAS on November 22–24, 2025. (2025, November 25). Medium. https://avi-loeb.medium.com/images-of-3i-atlas-on-november-22-24-2025-5026e8b73a02

Newsmax. (2025, November 22). Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS on path to potentially release probes: Dr. Avi Loeb | Saturday Agenda [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjAZo9SkUv4

NewsNation. (2025, November 23). Avi Loeb’s latest 3I/ATLAS theory: It’s interested in Jupiter | NewsNation Prime [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW6yOXu5LR8