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First Images of 3I/ATLAS from Mars Revealed as Earth-based Observations Go DARK πŸ”­

2025-10-06 Science & Technology
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Stefan Burns
Stefan Burns
720.0k subscribers

Status Update: Observations and Blind Spots for Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

Understand why official data for the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS remains locked down and analyze the critical low-resolution visuals obtained by citizen scientists after its Mars approach.

Short Summary

  • Amateur astronomers processed Perseverance rover data to find the first imagery of 3I/ATLAS from Mars.
  • Official data from NASA, ESA, and others remains publicly unavailable, possibly due to agency protocol or shutdowns.
  • The object is approaching solar conjunction (Oct 21st), meaning Earth-based tracking will halt until early December.
  • Misinformation regarding long-exposure images of Mars' moon Phobos caused temporary confusion.
  • The current observation blackout highlights species preparedness gaps for tracking unknown interstellar objects.

Geophysicist Stefan Burns provides an update on 3I/ATLAS following its close pass by Mars (0.2 AU). This report details the crucial, albeit low-resolution, images acquired by persistent amateurs, contrasts this with the silence from major space agencies, and outlines the expected two-month monitoring gap due to solar conjunction. This situation raises preparedness concerns for monitoring unexpected visitors in our solar neighborhood.

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Description

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS passed within 0.2 astronomical units of Mars on October 3rd and a variety of instrumentation were turned towards this mysterious interstellar visitor to capture as much data as possible. Now today on October 6th the public at large is still waiting for this data to be released by NASA, ESA, the Chinese, and the UAE. The Mars Perseverance Rover DID take some long-exposure photos of the night-sky on October 3rd and 4th and the thanks to the work of two clever amateur astronomers, we have our first imagery of 3I/ATLAS from Mars, albeit low-resolution and blurry. Now we enter into a period of time where it's unlikely we'll get any new imagery/observations of 3I/ATLAS till the end of November/December. If 3I/ATLAS is alien technology, could it now start to maneuver around in the Solar System in unexpected ways? Latest imagery and updates on 3I/ATLAS provided by geophysicist Stefan Burns β˜„οΈ The 3I/ATLAS long-sleeve 100% cotton shirt is now available! https://www.earthevolution.com/inventory/3i-atlas-impact-100-cotton-long-sleeve-shirt Live data on the Earth and Sun at Earth Evolution: https://www.earthevolution.com/energy-analytics βœ… Subscribe to my channel: @StefanBurns https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo https://www.instagram.com/stefanburnsofficial/ Research, Data, and Credit: NASA ESA Simeon Schmauß: https://bsky.app/profile/stim3on.bsky.social/post/3m2aqnbwlwk26 Astronomy Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKls2xPxFXg https://x.com/astroferg/status/1974898186113438080 The Sky Live 3D Solar System Viewer: https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem?objs=c2025r2|c2025n1|c2025a6|c2025k1&date=2025-09-27&h=15&m=29& Mars Perseverance Rover: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ https://areobrowser.com/#/mode=perseverance&timeframe=sol:1642-1643 *the only AI used in this video was Google Gemini VEO video you see for the intro and outro #3iatlas #NASA #space #comets #outerspace #earth #earthquakes #geophysics #spaceweather #megaquake #space #astronomy #solaractivity #geomagneticstorm #aurora #solarmaximum #solarcycle25 #geology #science #earthscience #volcanoes #earthquake #wx #swx #schumannresonance #supervolcano

Top Comments (10)

@InspireMe819 2025-10-06

I paid taxes on those rovers and telescopes. I deserve to see those images.

3.1k 346 replies
@Justin_Arut 2025-10-06

They're taking time to reach a consensus on what lies they'll tell us.

1.9k 84 replies
@DudeNews1 2025-10-06

Whats the point of paying billions to these companies if whenever something interesting actually happens, they’re silent. What a waste

1.3k 80 replies
@TwinAquarius484 2025-10-06

It's freaky how all these agencies have not released any images. I highly doubt they are just ignoring it. They don't want the population to know what it really is.

1.0k 167 replies
@GoddessHabits 2025-10-06

The silence is deafening

853 97 replies
@leo8555-w8s 2025-10-06

Their silence "is concerning". One of the greatest understatements in human history.

760 30 replies
@StefanBurns 2025-10-06

Well we still don't have any of the good data from Mars NOR do we have a timeline of when to expect those observations to be released publicly, but thankfully we at least have confirmation that 3I/ATLAS was where we expected to see it in the night sky as viewed from Mars thanks to the Mars Perseverance Rovers. I'll keep digging around and update you all as soon as possible. BTW we have three solar storms inbound https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/1975283215234629790 for tomorrow which is likely to trigger a G1 geomagnetic storm or greater. Please subscribe and stay tuned in! - Stefan

653 118 replies
@YearlyDose 2025-10-06

The space agencies need about 5 working days for photoshop and editing.

575 15 replies
@micah.80665 2025-10-07

Ever since the pandemic we really are living in a movie

149 19 replies
@lawyer4thepeople298 2025-10-08

Thank you Stefan. You’re such an informed, yet humble gentleman. You know your stuff. You’ve one of the few professionals on this subject that I trust. Thanks.

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