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Comet Interceptor

@cometinterceptor.bsky.social

130 followers 16 following 6 posts

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

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Comet Interceptor @cometinterceptor.bsky.social · 17d

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

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Comet Interceptor @cometinterceptor.bsky.social · Aug 27

Hear from mission scientist Colin Snodgrass in his interview with @earthskyscience.bsky.social talking all things Comet Interceptor 🚀☄️

EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · Aug 26

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.

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Reposted by Comet Interceptor

Michele Bannister @astrokiwi.bsky.social · Aug 27

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

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

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Reposted by Comet Interceptor

International Space Science Institute (ISSI) @issibern.ch · Aug 14

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 🔭

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

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Reposted by Comet Interceptor

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @vrubinobs.bsky.social · Jul 30

☄️ 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! 🔭🧪

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

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Comet Interceptor @cometinterceptor.bsky.social · Jul 31

🚀🚀 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 - IOPscience

Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft, Sanchez, Joan Pau, Snodgrass, Colin

doi.org

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Comet Interceptor @cometinterceptor.bsky.social · Jul 29

Check out Rosita Kokotanekova’s TEDx talk all about ME ☄️

Rosita Kokotanekova @kokotanekova.bsky.social · Jul 28

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...

Could we ‘catch’ a comet before it hits Earth? | Rosita Kokotanekova | TEDxVitosha

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

www.youtube.com

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Comet Interceptor @cometinterceptor.bsky.social · Jul 29

It’s me 😎😎

Elizabeth Tasker @elizabethtasker.bsky.social · Jun 9

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!).

Photograph showing a canteen table with the corners of three light green dinner trays showing. In the centre is a Lego model of a spacecraft with two small probes sitting beside it.

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Comet Interceptor @cometinterceptor.bsky.social · Jul 29

Comet Interceptor is now on Bluesky!! ☄️🚀🛰️

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