美航天局公布“星际访客”彗星最新图像

Core Points - NASA has released new images of the interstellar visitor comet 3I/ATLAS, which is expected to pass Earth around December 19, at a distance of approximately 270 million kilometers, about twice the distance from Earth to the Sun [1] - The comet was first discovered by the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile on July 1, and it is the third interstellar object observed in the solar system [1] - A total of 12 NASA instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, have captured images of the comet, with more observations expected as it continues its journey through the solar system [1] - The comet passed within 30 million kilometers of Mars this autumn, where three Mars rovers observed it, and other NASA spacecraft also tracked it [1] - Researchers believe that 3I/ATLAS originated from an external star system and has been drifting in interstellar space for millions to billions of years before entering the solar system [1] Naming Significance - The name of the comet contains its "identity code": "ATLAS" represents the discovery team, "I" indicates it is an interstellar object, and "3" signifies it is the third confirmed interstellar body [2]