China’s “Tianwen 1” Mars probe has observed images of the large-fringed ierstellar comet “3I/Atlas”, which is the newest ierstellar object in the solar system, from the orbit of Mars.
According to IsnaChina’s Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter has imaged the ierstellar comet 3I/Atlas during its close flyby of the Red Planet, coributing to global efforts to study this rare ierstellar object.
3I/Atlas is only the third object so far confirmed to have arrived in our solar system after originating from another planetary system, following Omoamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. This time, space agencies around the world are looking for every way to study the invading comet, including repurposing spacecraft spread across the solar system.
The European Space Agency and NASA are known to have their rovers, including surface probes, aimed at the comet.
3I/ATLAS is thought to be older than our solar system, and now the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has revealed that its Tianwen 1 spacecraft imaged the comet between October 1 and 4 and released images showing its path during that time, as well as an independe photo of it on October 3.
The probe used its high-resolution imaging camera, somewhat comparable to HiRISE on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), but with a slightly lower resolution, to record the comet’s motion against the stellar background. The operation preseed challenges, particularly switching from imaging bright features on the planet’s surface from low Mars orbit to tracking from 29 million kilometers away a fai comet traveling at 58 kilometers per second and only 5.6 kilometers across.
Data acquired by a high-resolution camera was received, processed and displayed by a ground-based application system, according to a Nov. 5 CNSA stateme. The images clearly show the distinctive features of this comet, consisting of a nucleus and a halo around it, with a diameter that reaches several thousand kilometers.
China’s space agency says the comet imaging project was an importa mission for Tianwen 1, noting that the ability to observe dim celestial objects provided an opportunity to conduct useful technical experimes and gather experience for the second mission in China’s deep space exploration series, Tianwen 2, which launched in May and is on its way to sample a near-Earth asteroid.
“Tianwen 1” is China’s first planetary exploration mission. The mission was launched in July 2020 and eered Mars orbit in February 2021. The Zhurong rover of this mission successfully landed in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars in May 2021 and operated on its surface for about one year.
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