Europa Clipper introduced in 2024 and is arranged to get here in the Jovian system in 2030, where it will orbit Jupiter and carry out 49 close flybys of its icy moon Europa.

The UVS instrument gathers ultraviolet light to evaluate the structure of Europa’s climatic gases and icy surface area products.

“We’re delighted that this chance to see another target en route to Jupiter was totally unforeseen,” stated Europa-UVS primary private investigator Dr. Kurt Retherford, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute.

“Our observations have actually enabled a special and nuanced view of the comet.”

3I/ATLAS was found by the NASA-funded ATLAS study telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, on July 1, 2025.

At the time, the interstellar comet was at a heliocentric range of 4.51 huge systems (AU), with an eccentricity of 6.13.

Within a week of the discovery, experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory determined its trajectory through the Solar System.

The Europa Clipper group rapidly recognized their spacecraft might observe 3I/ATLAS throughout November 2025, when Earth-based observations were mostly obstructed by the Sun’s position and after Mars-based views were optimum.

Throughout this time, the spacecraft bridged the space in between Mars-based views from September and later on Earth-based observations.

With the comet’s trajectory death in between Europa Clipper and the Sun, its viewpoint allowed the UVS group to see the comet from a distinct point of view.

Comets have both dust tails in the tracking instructions and plasma tails in the instructions far from the Sun.

Europa-UVS’s uncommon sunward perspective got a distinct downstream view of the comet’s 2 tails, seeing mostly from ‘behind’ the tails and recalling towards the comet nucleus and coma.

“We’re confident that this brand-new view, in addition to observations from Earth-based properties and other spacecraft, will assist us to piece together a more total understanding of the tails’ geometries,” stated Europa-UVS co-deputy principal detective Dr. Thomas Greathouse, likewise from the Southwest Research Institute.

The UVS instrument identified oxygen, hydrogen and dust-related functions, supporting the prevalence of information showing that 3I/ATLAS went through a duration of high outgassing activity throughout the duration simply after its closest method to the Sun.

“Europa-UVS is especially skilled at determining essential shifts from atoms and particles,” Dr. Retherford stated.

“We can see gases come off the comet, and water particles disintegrate into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.”

This ability makes it possible for Europa Clipper to carefully determine and examine these atomic types, supplying a much deeper view into the comet’s procedures and structure.

“Understanding the structure of the comet and how easily these gases are discharged can offer us a clearer view of the comet’s origin and how it might have developed throughout transit from in other places in the Galaxy to our Solar System,” stated Europa-UVS co-deputy principal private investigator Dr. Tracy Becker, likewise from the Southwest Research Institute.

“What are the chemical processes at play, and how can we decipher the comet’s origin in its own Solar System?”

“Were those procedures comparable to how our company believe our Solar System formed? Those are huge concerns.”