New Interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS is speeding through our Solar System, NASA confirms
Spotted on July 1 by the ATLAS survey telescope in Hawaii, the comet was moving so fast that scientists immediately suspected it wasn't bound by the Sun's gravity. Its speed of over 60 kilometres per second means it entered our solar system from deep space and will exit just as quickly.
Ice ball from another star
According to astronomers, 3I/ATLAS shows signs of being made of mostly ice, not rock. That's based on the faint, fuzzy glow around it. Its brightness will increase as it gets closer to the Sun, peaking around October 30, when it passes just inside Mars' orbit.
There's a new interstellar comet in the neighborhood! Known as 3I/ATLAS, this comet poses no threat to Earth – but it does provide a rare opportunity to study an object that originated outside of our solar system: https://t.co/7ihCiHi91t pic.twitter.com/2XT3NRyCOz
While it won't pose any danger to Earth, its flyby is a big deal. Most comets we see come from the outer edges of our solar system. But this one came from far beyond, possibly freed from another star system by gravity when stars passed close together.
Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics explained that icy objects like this might be formed during the birth of stars, and get pulled away when other stars move past. 3I/ATLAS might have been wandering the galaxy for millions of years before arriving here.
Largest interstellar object ever seen?
Experts estimate that 3I/ATLAS is about 10 to 20 kilometres wide. That makes it possibly the largest interstellar object ever detected. But if it's made of bright ice, it could be smaller than it looks. Either way, it's bigger than both 'Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019), the first two interstellar visitors.
Astronomers across the globe have been tracking the comet using both new and old telescope data. Pre-discovery images from June 14 have already helped trace its path. It's currently around the distance of Jupiter from Earth and only visible from the Southern Hemisphere for now.
More interstellar visitors expected
Mark Norris, an astronomer from the University of Central Lancashire, believes this comet is moving even faster than its two predecessors. He also said new telescopes, like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, could find thousands of similar objects in the future.
NASA determined that 3I/ATLAS will develop a tail. This interstellar comet(?), approaching from 27 Boötis, aligns with the solar system and galactic planes. 'Oumuamua exhibited outgassing but did not resemble a comet. Is 3I/ATLAS emitting signals like 'Oumuamua? #A11pl3Z pic.twitter.com/BLGAYqdfmM
While it's not possible to send a spacecraft to 3I/ATLAS, it still gives researchers a rare chance to study materials from outside our solar system. If scientists find signs of amino acids or other building blocks of life on it, it could support the idea that life's ingredients exist across the galaxy.
So far, this icy wanderer has kept its distance. But it's reminding us that our solar system is not alone. The universe is full of travellers and now, we're finally learning how to spot them.
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