Night sky: Some of the strange objects in our solar system
Oumaumua, (which in Hawaiian means 'first distant messenger'), was travelling too fast to have originated from within our solar system, 54 miles per second, with comets and asteroids from within normally only achieving 12 miles per second. By January 2018, the object was lost by even the most powerful telescopes, probably never to be seen again.
Within a few years, another object appeared, 2I/Borisov, discovered in August 2019. Travelling at 110,000mph, the object measured 3,200 metres across, with the last observations recorded in the summer of 2020.
Now, another cosmic wanderer has been spotted, with its trajectory indicating that it will pass Mars in October 2025, with its closest approach to Earth in December. The object measures 12 miles wide and was first christened A11pl3Z but since renamed 3I/Atlas, as it was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, (ATLAS), telescope in Chile.
The object's speed has been measured at 37 miles per second, which classes it as heralding from outside of our solar system. 3I/Atlas will pass Mars in October at 18 million miles, passing Earth at a totally safe distance of 150 million miles, so no threat to us but a great opportunity to study it.
From an amateur astronomer's perspective, as the visitor approaches Earth, it is likely to brighten to a point sufficient for small telescopes and even binoculars to spot it.
In space news, and rather sadly, a capsule carrying the ashes of 166 people that was supposed to take-off then make several orbits of the Earth before returning safely, didn't complete its intended feat.
A German start-up firm, The Exploration Company, (TEC), said that it lost contact with the capsule after it had made two orbits of the Earth, with the craft ditching in the Pacific Ocean minutes before its scheduled splash-down designation. Designed to fulfil the dying wishes of the deceased who had dreamed of becoming astronauts, the capsule has been declared lost.
On the morning of Sunday, July 13, there's a chance to glimpse Venus in the morning sky just before dawn. Venus will be sitting over the horizon to the northeast, outshining anything else in the sky. The bright star Aldebaran is close by.
On the evening of Tuesday, July 15, Saturn, rising at around 11.30pm, will be positioned close to the Moon in the constellation of Pisces. Also in the evening sky is Mars, low in the west after sunset, but becoming increasingly more difficult to spot.
Send your astrophotography pictures to: thenightsky@themoon.co.uk
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