3I/ATLAS: Harvard Astrophysicist Avi Loeb Notes Unusual Geometry in Hubble Images

Hubble images from January 14, 2026 show a bright halo and a Sunward-directed anti-tail around interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, and Avi Loeb has highlighted an unusual jet pattern after processing the images with a rotational-gradient filter.

3I/ATLAS is the third-known interstellar object to pass through the solar system and was discovered by the ATLAS observatory on July 1, 2025. NASA released data on the object and stated at a November 20, 2025 press briefing that it was a comet. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who has flagged multiple anomalies in 3I/ATLAS, posted about a feature he identified in Hubble Space Telescope images taken on January 14, 2026. Those images show a bright halo and extended structures around the object after perihelion. Key observations: - The Hubble images dated January 14, 2026 show a brightness map of a glowing halo around 3I/ATLAS that extends more than 130,000 kilometers toward the Sun, about one third of the Earth–Moon separation. - Loeb processed the images with a Larson–Sekanina rotational-gradient filter, which removes circularly symmetric glow around the nucleus and can reveal jets and fine structures. - The processed images feature a prominent anti-tail outflow directed toward the Sun plus a system of three mini-jets that are reported as equally separated by about 120 degrees. - The mini-jets are reported as not pointing away from the Sun as would be expected for a standard cometary tail. - Loeb has previously listed multiple anomalies for 3I/ATLAS and has posed hypotheses about the anti-tail’s composition, including fragments of ice, large dust grains, or more massive objects; the reporting notes there has been no concrete rebuttal to his arguments based on observatory findings. Summary: The reported features have prompted questions about how a Sunward-directed anti-tail can persist against solar radiation and the solar wind, as noted by Loeb. Undetermined at this time.