When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.(Center) A white light of the comet 3I/ATLAS is surrounded by a blue glow against a black backgroundHubble Space Telescope captured interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in November. (Corners) Images of the coma of 3I/ATLAS . | Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA). Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)/ Serra-Ricart, Licandro, and AlarconIt may be on its way away from Earth and heading out of the solar system, but interstellar invader comet 3I/ATLAS still has some surprises for researchers.New research reveals that jet structures in the sun-facing “anti-tail” of this comet, estimated in some observations to stretch up to 620,000 miles (1 million kilometers), were wobbling every 7 hours and 45 minutes as 3I/ATLAS approached the sun. Of course, comets are famous for their tails and haloes, comprised of gas and dust that is blown from their nucleus as radiation from the sun heats them. However, these tails generally face away from the sun and the influx of solar radiation. A rare anti-tail is a cometary tail that points toward the sun, rather than away from it.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement3I/ATLAS is only the third object known to have entered our solar system from around another star. The first was the cigar-shaped space-rock ‘Oumuamua, discovered passing through the solar system in Oct. 2017, and the second was the first interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, spotted in our solar system in August 2019. Though rare, scientists have seen comets originating in the solar system display a sun-facing anti-tail before, and wobbling jets have been observed in these anti-tails. However, this is the first time that such an “outgassi …
