Comet Interceptor
@cometinterceptor.bsky.social
An European Space Agency mission, with key contributions from Japan, to visit a long-period comet or interstellar object ☄️
See what we’re up to: www.cometinterceptor.space
See what we’re up to: www.cometinterceptor.space
Catch Colin Snodgrass talking ☄️ Comet Interceptor 🚀 on the BBC's Science In Action as well as @megschwamb.bsky.social on how important LSST will be for making small body discoveries: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (from 8:30 minutes onwards!)
Science In Action - Stephen Hawking gets it right again - BBC Sounds
LIGO witnesses two black holes merge just how Hawking predicted.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Catch Colin Snodgrass talking ☄️ Comet Interceptor 🚀 on the BBC's Science In Action as well as @megschwamb.bsky.social on how important LSST will be for making small body discoveries: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (from 8:30 minutes onwards!)
Hear from mission scientist Colin Snodgrass in his interview with @earthskyscience.bsky.social talking all things Comet Interceptor 🚀☄️
It seems we won't send a #spacecraft out to take a closer look at 3I/ATLAS because it would take too long to get such a mission ready to #launch. But what if we "parked" a spacecraft out in orbit, primed to chase after exciting objects like 3I/ATLAS as soon as we spot them?
buff.ly/KER1qn7
📸 ESA.
buff.ly/KER1qn7
📸 ESA.
August 27, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Hear from mission scientist Colin Snodgrass in his interview with @earthskyscience.bsky.social talking all things Comet Interceptor 🚀☄️
Reposted by Comet Interceptor
Today on interstellar comet ☄️ 3I/ATLAS, this time from our team with ESO's VLT: the coma shows rich atomic nickel! This entirely natural metal emission from grains was only recently (last 4 yrs) identified in Solar System comets, was in 2I/Borisov, & now in 3I. 🔭🧪
Rahatgaonkar et al, ApJL submitted
Rahatgaonkar et al, ApJL submitted
VLT observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS II. From quiescence to glow: Dramatic rise of Ni I emission and incipient CN outgassing at large heliocentric distances
We report VLT spectroscopy of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) from $r_{\rm h}\!\simeq\!4.4$ to $2.85$ au using X-shooter (300-550 nm, $R\!\simeq\!3000$) and UVES (optical, $R\!\simeq\!35k-...
arxiv.org
August 27, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Today on interstellar comet ☄️ 3I/ATLAS, this time from our team with ESO's VLT: the coma shows rich atomic nickel! This entirely natural metal emission from grains was only recently (last 4 yrs) identified in Solar System comets, was in 2I/Borisov, & now in 3I. 🔭🧪
Rahatgaonkar et al, ApJL submitted
Rahatgaonkar et al, ApJL submitted
Reposted by Comet Interceptor
Catching Comets for Planetary Defence! 🛡️✨
In her #TEDx talk, ISSI Discipline Scientist @kokotanekova.bsky.social is shining a brilliant light on one of the most daring missions in planetary science: ESA’s Comet Interceptor.
☄️
www.issibern.ch/catching-com...
@esa.int @cometinterceptor.bsky.social 🔭
In her #TEDx talk, ISSI Discipline Scientist @kokotanekova.bsky.social is shining a brilliant light on one of the most daring missions in planetary science: ESA’s Comet Interceptor.
☄️
www.issibern.ch/catching-com...
@esa.int @cometinterceptor.bsky.social 🔭
Catching Comets: Rosita Kokotanekova’s Vision for Planetary Defence and Discovery | International Space Science Institute
Listen to her engaging TEDxVitosha presentation, Dr. Rosita Kokotanekova, Planetary Science Discipline Scientist at ISSI.
www.issibern.ch
August 14, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Catching Comets for Planetary Defence! 🛡️✨
In her #TEDx talk, ISSI Discipline Scientist @kokotanekova.bsky.social is shining a brilliant light on one of the most daring missions in planetary science: ESA’s Comet Interceptor.
☄️
www.issibern.ch/catching-com...
@esa.int @cometinterceptor.bsky.social 🔭
In her #TEDx talk, ISSI Discipline Scientist @kokotanekova.bsky.social is shining a brilliant light on one of the most daring missions in planetary science: ESA’s Comet Interceptor.
☄️
www.issibern.ch/catching-com...
@esa.int @cometinterceptor.bsky.social 🔭
Reposted by Comet Interceptor
☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third interstellar object ever seen in our Solar System!
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once full science operations begin later this year! 🔭🧪
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once full science operations begin later this year! 🔭🧪
Interstellar Object Comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory!
☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory!
Comet 3I/ATLAS is just the third interstellar object ever spotted in our Solar System.
Rubin Observatory didn’t discover it, but…
youtu.be
July 30, 2025 at 6:30 PM
☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third interstellar object ever seen in our Solar System!
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once full science operations begin later this year! 🔭🧪
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once full science operations begin later this year! 🔭🧪
🚀🚀 Could I have made it to interstellar object 3I/ATLAS? Find out in our latest research note! 🚀🚀
Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft
doi.org/10.3847/2515...
via @ioppublishing.bsky.social
Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft
doi.org/10.3847/2515...
via @ioppublishing.bsky.social
Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft - IOPscience
Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft, Sanchez, Joan Pau, Snodgrass, Colin
doi.org
July 31, 2025 at 12:09 PM
🚀🚀 Could I have made it to interstellar object 3I/ATLAS? Find out in our latest research note! 🚀🚀
Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft
doi.org/10.3847/2515...
via @ioppublishing.bsky.social
Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft
doi.org/10.3847/2515...
via @ioppublishing.bsky.social
Check out Rosita Kokotanekova’s TEDx talk all about ME ☄️
Earlier this year, I spoke at TEDxVitosha about our ESA mission, Comet Interceptor—a unique opportunity to study a pristine comet (or even an interstellar object) for the first time. I'm excited to finally share more about the motivation and vision behind CI. 🚀
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r688...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r688...
Could we ‘catch’ a comet before it hits Earth? | Rosita Kokotanekova | TEDxVitosha
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
www.youtube.com
July 29, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Check out Rosita Kokotanekova’s TEDx talk all about ME ☄️
It’s me 😎😎
New friend joined us for lunch at the ISAS canteen! This is the “Comet Interceptor” mission in Lego! The mission has a mothership developed by ESA and two small probes, one by ESA and one by JAXA. The plan is to take images from a bunch of angles of a long period comet (from the Oort Cloud, baby!).
July 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM
It’s me 😎😎
Comet Interceptor is now on Bluesky!! ☄️🚀🛰️
July 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Comet Interceptor is now on Bluesky!! ☄️🚀🛰️