Tianwen-1 space probe captures image of much-talked-about interstellar object

The orbiter of China's Mars mission Tianwen-1 has successfully captured the images of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS using its high-resolution camera.

3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object to visit the solar system, so it has sparked plenty of attention among members of the scientific community.

Tianwen-1, China's first Mars mission, carries optical payloads originally designed to image the bright Martian surface.

Capturing an object 30 million kilometres away represents the first attempt of its kind for the mission.

The successful observation represents an important extended mission for Tianwen-1, as it serves as a valuable technical test for China's Tianwen-2 mission, aiming to explore a main belt comet.