Hubble detects the nucleus: radius 1.3 ± 0.2 km
Hubble images from December 2025 to January 2026 separated the nucleus from the coma, giving a radius of 1.3 ± 0.2 km for an albedo of 0.04.
What it means
- The first direct size: about a kilometre in radius.For the key question: How big is the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS?
- A nucleus of ordinary comet size.For: Is 3I/ATLAS a natural comet or a technological object?
Next steps 2
Details
Take Frincke and Seligman's compiled production rates and JPL solution 55's non-gravitational parameters, and compute the mass, and so the radius at a density of 0.5 g/cm3, separately for a CO2-driven and a water-driven push, with the dust-to-gas ratio as a stated range. A radius under 1.8 km in both cases supports the kilometre-sized answer independently of the Hubble photometry; a radius above 2.5 km would need far less push per kilogram of gas than any comet shows, and would reopen the large answer.
Details
Hui and colleagues measured the 1.3 km radius from the December 2025 and January 2026 visits of DD program 18152. The program went on to visit on 14 February and 10 April 2026, when the coma was fainter, and all its WFC3 frames are public in MAST. Fit the nucleus with coma subtraction on those later frames. A radius inside 0.35-1.8 km settles the kilometre-sized answer; one above 2.5 km revives the large one; a value between reopens it.
Sources 2
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). Hubble detects the nucleus: radius 1.3 ± 0.2 km [Evidence EVD0DFQ47J4JQGK]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DFQ47J4JQGK
@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0dfq47j4jqgk,
title = {Hubble detects the nucleus: radius 1.3 ± 0.2 km},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DFQ47J4JQGK},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DFQ47J4JQGK}
}