Space agencies rarely publish animated GIFs without a strong reason. On October 7, 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) released an animation from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) that follows interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it grazed past Mars just days earlier. The looped sequence stacks multiple five-second exposures from the orbiter’s Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS), turning faint specks of data into something mission scientists—and the wider public—can interpret at a glance.
This Week’s Deep-Space GIF Moment
According to Space.com’s report, 3I/ATLAS swept within 19 million miles (30 million kilometers) of Mars on October 3 before ESA shared the GIF. CaSSIS Principal Investigator Nick Thomas called the observation “very challenging,” noting that the comet was between 10,000 and 100,000 times fainter than the instrument’s typical targets. To capture the pass, the TGO team had to deliberately plan exposures, align the frames, and embrace a format that made the motion unmistakable.
The ESA release emphasized that interstellar visitors remain rare—3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed object from beyond our solar system. Mission scientists believe it could be the oldest comet humanity has ever tracked, potentially predating the birth of our own system by billions of years. Additional assets from Mars Express and the JUICE mission will continue to monitor the object as it approaches the sun, giving ESA multiple opportunities to extend the GIF narrative with follow-up frames.
Why Scientists Trusted a GIF
Looping imagery carries three advantages in this scenario: it reduces the cognitive load for viewers who are not fluent in raw astronomical data, it highlights motion without demanding a heavy video payload, and it preserves fidelity for researchers who want to inspect frame-by-frame anomalies. In other words, the team picked the format that balances outreach and analysis.
Colin Wilson, project scientist for both Mars Express and ExoMars, underlined that these orbiters still “make impressive contributions to Mars science,” but treating an unexpected comet pass as a GIF-ready event helps them respond faster. Instead of waiting for a polished documentary, ESA delivered an explorable asset that scientists, journalists, and educators could reuse the same day.
What Creators Can Learn Right Now
- Plan for loops, even in harsh conditions: The CaSSIS team built a capture plan exclusively for a faint subject. Think about your exposure settings, alignment, and noise reduction before motion begins.
- Link data and storytelling: ESA paired the GIF with context about 3I/ATLAS’ origin and rarity. When you publish motion assets, attach the metadata and narrative hooks viewers need to care.
- Keep frame access simple: Researchers and creators will want to inspect individual frames. A GIF is fantastic for the headline, but distributing the underlying frames lets others validate the science or remix it into new experiences.
Try It Yourself With Our Converter
If you want to experiment with the ExoMars animation, download the GIF from ESA or Space.com and drop it into our converter. Extracting frames lets you examine the stacking artifacts, measure the comet’s apparent motion, or feed the dataset into your own compositing workflow. Features like batch exporting and sprite sheet assembly make it easy to iterate on similar scientific loops for education, social media, or real-time dashboards.
Source: Mike Wall, “European Mars orbiter spies interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS zooming past Red Planet (photos),” Space.com, published October 7, 2025.