Diary News Feed

The planet has been passing through a fast plasma stream formed in the coronal hole on the Sun for the second day and unexpectedly, two days earlier than expected, it reached Earth yesterday.

The close approach of 3I/ATLAS to Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, which has been widely discussed in recent days, is expected to occur on March 16 of next year at approximately 3:00 PM Moscow time. The object will pass just over 53 million kilometers from the gas giant, marking its last close encounter with any planet in the solar system.

Rumors are circulating about the fragmentation of the object 3I/ATLAS. The fragmentation has actually been detected in another object with a similar name—comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) (shown in the attached image). The onset of the fragmentation was apparently detected as early as November 12-13. Incoming images show at least three large fragments, but with greater detail, smaller nuclei are likely discernible.

The formation and ejection of a very large solar prominence, significantly larger than usual, was recorded overnight today, November 20, at the Sun's north pole. The plasma formation's size at the moment of its release from the Sun exceeded one million kilometers, or 80 times the diameter of the Earth.

Calculations indicate that the new large plasma ejection recorded on the far side of the Sun on November 17 is aimed directly at the object 3I/ATLAS, which is currently located to the right of the Sun. The plasma cloud will strike the interstellar "comet-ship" at midday on Friday, November 21, at approximately 3:00 PM UTC.

The retrograde motion of Mercury against the background of stars is currently being directly observed in images coming from the LASCO coronagraphs, which are studying the space around the Sun.

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, which recently passed behind the Sun, creating significant difficulties for observation, has now moved approximately 45 degrees from the solar disk, making it accessible for observation from Earth. A large number of images of the object will gradually appear (and are already appearing) in the near future, but these images will still shed little light on its nature.

The Leonid meteor shower's peak is expected to be relatively low today, although consistent with recent years. Based on the rate already measured, in good outdoor conditions, with clear skies, one meteor will be visible approximately every 3-5 minutes. In urban areas, even without clouds, it's unlikely you'll see more than one or two meteors per hour.

The edge of the plasma cloud from the last X4.0 explosion in region 4274 has finally reached Earth. At this point, the group of spots is no longer even visible on the solar disk (yesterday, the last spot was barely visible, but could be seen on the upper right edge of the Sun, so this is, in fact, already a "dead hand signal"

The arrival of a full set of data from space-based coronagraphs has revived discussions about the possibility of a strike on Earth by yesterday's plasma ejection following the second-most powerful solar flare of the year, X4.0.