These Martian probes captured an event that no one else saw

Located several million kilometers from our planet, Mars is currently a spectator of a unique spectacle. The interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS, which is none other than a comet, is crossing our solar system at more than 60 kilometers per second. However, observation from Earth is limited, and faced with this inconvenience, astronomers from the European Space Agency have monopolized the Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter probes to observe this visitor from elsewhere.

This is a unique challenge and a first in history, because the cameras on these two probes are effective for objects located less than 1,000 kilometers away. However, this comet is located 29 million kilometers away, making the task difficult, if not impossible.

And that's not all, because this comet was 10,000 times less bright than what these space probes usually observe. But thanks to the CaSSIS imaging system on ExoMars TGO, astronomers were able to get a fairly clear picture of this comet.

The details are breathtaking, as it is possible to see the comet's coma, which is nothing more than the gaseous atmosphere surrounding the nucleus and composed of ice. Not to mention that future studies will shed more light on this mysterious stellar object, which has even been described as an alien probe.

Finally, in a few weeks, the Juice mission will take over, observing this comet as it reaches its closest point to the sun. And there is no doubt that its upcoming observations will provide conclusive results on the composition of this object and its trajectory.