What question did this study set out to answer?

This work aims to characterize the photometric and morphological properties of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.

January 20, 2026Open Access

Photometric and morphological characterization of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

Key Points

This work aims to characterize the photometric and morphological properties of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
Conducted multiband observations using 0.4 m telescope from Haleakala observatory.
Utilized SDSS g', r', and i' filters for analysis.
Employed radial profiles, isophotes, and point spread function (PSF) analysis to assess structure and elongation.
Identified a dust-dominated coma with specific photometric properties.
Estimated spectral slope of cometary dust and set upper limits on unresolved nucleus size.
Noted similarities with photometric properties of other active comets, including 2I/Borisov.

Abstract

This work presents a photometric and morphological analysis of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, based on multiband observations obtained with 0.4 m telescope from Haleakala observatory of Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), utilizing SDSS g', r' and i' filters. From radial profiles, isophotes and PSF analysis, the structure and antisolar elongation are characterized, the spectral slope of cometary dust is estimated and upper limits are set on the size of the unresolved nucleus. The results are consistent with a dust-dominated coma with photometric properties similar to those observed in other active comets, including interstellar comet 2I/Borisov

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