Comet 3I ATLAS Is BIGGER Than You Think — JUICE Revealed Its True Size Are Recent Fireballs Connect

Comet 3I ATLAS Is Bigger Than You Think — JUICE Revealed Its True Size. Are Recent Fireballs Connected?

The European Space Agency’s JUICE spacecraft recently captured an image of Comet 3I ATLAS from a distance of about 0.44 AU (~66 million km). When you compare the apparent size of its enormous coma with what Earth would look like at the same distance, the scale becomes surprising.

In this video, we take a closer look at:

• The JUICE spacecraft image of Comet 3I ATLAS
• How large the comet’s coma really is compared to Earth
• What the Jupiter Hill Radius means for objects passing near Jupiter
• Why the comet’s gas cloud can appear enormous even though its nucleus is small
• Whether the recent fireballs reported around the world could have any connection

Comets are fascinating objects. While the nucleus of a comet may only be a few kilometers across, the surrounding coma of gas and dust can extend hundreds of thousands of kilometers into space.

Using real spacecraft observations and scale comparisons, we explore the true size of Comet 3I ATLAS and what makes this interstellar visitor so interesting.

Are the recent fireballs simply normal meteor events… or is there more to investigate?

Watch to see the full comparison and decide for yourself.

Sources and References

ESA JUICE Mission
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice

NASA Comet Information
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets

American Meteor Society Fireball Reports
https://www.amsmeteors.org

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