Latest news with #3IATLAS
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Hubble Captures Glorious New Image of That Mysterious Object Cruising Into Our Solar System
As the mysterious interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS plummets through our Solar System, NASA's good old Hubble Space Telescope has captured the best look yet at the interstellar visitor. On July 21, the interstellar interloper passed close enough to Earth — and to Hubble, which orbits us at about 320 miles above the planet — that the veteran space telescope was able to capture a surprisingly detailed image of it, NASA explains in a statement about the image. In the space agency's incredible shot — the second the Hubble has captured since the discovery of 3I/ATLAS — a "teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust," as NASA calls it, is seen trailing behind the puzzling object, which many scientists suspect is a sizable interstellar comet. Discovered a mere five weeks ago on July 1, 3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, with the first being the ever-mysterious 'Oumuamua back in 2017. As with that strangely elongated visitor, there is some speculation that 3I/ATLAS could be some sort of alien spacecraft — but NASA believes we're looking at the "solid, icy nucleus" of a comet. That said, there's quite a lot about this interstellar visitor that is extraordinary — and unexplained. In an editorial for last month, a pair of astrophysicists posited that 3I/ATLAS is much older than 'Oumuamua and 3I/Borisov, the second-ever recorded interstellar object discovered by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov back in 2019. Those scientists, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor's Aster Taylor and Michigan State University's Darryl Seligman, suggested that this latest interstellar interloper could be anywhere from three to 11 billion years old, and cited its massive speeds of 134,000 mph relative to the Sun as the source of their hypothesis. "Since the influence of the galaxy tends to speed up objects over time," the astrophysicists wrote, "this velocity implies that ATLAS is far older." NASA has, meanwhile, proffered in its latest findings, which have been accepted into the Astrophysical Journal Letters, that 3I/ATLAS' nucleus may be as large as 3.5 miles across or as small as just 1,000 feet in diameter. The new Hubble image played a big role in those estimates, though as the agency noted in another statement, the "solid heart of the comet presently cannot be directly seen, even by Hubble." While scientists continue to glean bits and pieces of information about this out-of-solar-system visitor, there's still one huge, outstanding question about 3I/ATLAS. "No one knows where the comet came from," explained Hubble science leader David Jewitt in the statement. "It's like glimpsing a rifle bullet for a thousandth of a second. You can't project that back with any accuracy to figure out where it started on its path." More on comets: Scientists Just Found Something Very Weird About the Mysterious Object Hurtling Into Our Solar System Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Hubble reveals new details about alien comet 3I/ATLAS
Hubble has captured the sharpest images to date of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, revealing new details about this icy alien traveller. The discovery of the third interstellar object passing through our solar system has the astronomy community fairly excited. Given the limited amount of time we have to observe 3I/ATLAS before it leaves our solar system, never to be seen again, astronomers want to find out as much as they can about it, while they have a chance. To this end, increasingly more powerful telescopes are being turned towards 3I/ATLAS. Ground-based observatories have been delivering images, so far, giving researchers a chance to make educated guesses at the nature of the object and how big it is. On July 21, astronomers got their first look at 3I/ATLAS using the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble's first image of Comet 3I/ATLAS. The streaks in the background are distant stars, drawn out into lines as the telescope tracked the moving object. According to NASA, a blue filter was used for these observations. (Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)) With 3I/ATLAS currently surrounded by a cloud of dust, ice, and gas (its 'coma'), the solid nucleus of the comet cannot be seen, even by Hubble. However, these observations give astronomers a better estimate of the size of this alien object, simply by comparing what they're seeing with the behaviour of 'home grown' comets. From ground observatories, based on its brightness, the original best estimate for the size of its nucleus was anywhere from 10-20 kilometres in diameter. New data from Hubble has significantly reduced that, putting an upper limit on the comet's size of 5.6 kilometres wide. That's still substantially larger than both 2I/Borisov and 1I/'Oumuamua, which were estimated at being roughly 500 metres wide and 100 metres wide, respectively. Still, the researchers who took the Hubble observations believe it's possible 3I/ATLAS's nucleus could be as small as just 320 metres across. Hubble's view of 3I/ATLAS. The comet is travelling from left to right in this field of view, with the Sun generally located off the right edge of the image. (Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)) The image captured by Hubble also reveals more detail, confirming 3I/ATLAS's cometary nature. As seen above, the solid nucleus is located within the bright region on the left side of the fuzzy 'teardrop'. The diffuse region on the right appears to be a plume of dust being ejected from it, as sunlight warms the nucleus' surface. Comets produce tails of dust and ionized gas, which both generally point away from the Sun. However, this kind of dust plume being generated in the direction of the Sun is apparently common in comets when they are farther out in space and first begin to feel the Sun's heat. Additionally, according to NASA, the researchers report seeing the hints of a dust tail streaming away from the nucleus. We still have roughly a month before most telescopes will lose sight of comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes around the other side of the Sun. At that time, orbiters around Mars might get a better look. Then, starting in early December, astronomers will pick up observations of it again, and have at least until early 2026 before it gets too far away to see. "Observations from other NASA missions including the James Webb Space Telescope, TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, as well as NASA's partnership with the W.M. Keck Observatory, will help further refine our knowledge about the comet, including its chemical makeup," says NASA. Watch below: August Sky Guide — Watch for a six planet parade Click here to view the video Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
There is a 'hostile' alien spaceship hurtling towards Earth - and this is the proof: Top Harvard astrophysics professor reveals eight startling reasons why 'comet' closing in on us is actually advanced 'mothership'
When an unidentified interstellar object several miles wide comes hurtling through our solar system at 37 miles a second, the science world inevitably sits up and takes notice. But while Nasa – which first spotted the object now known as 3I/ATLAS in early July – and most astronomers believe it is a comet that will thankfully come nowhere near Earth, others have come up with a more disturbing theory.
Yahoo
13-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This comet is traveling 100x faster than a bullet. NASA still managed to photograph it
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The fastest-moving objects are often the most challenging subjects to photograph – which means NASA scientists had a challenge ahead of them when the ATLAS comet warning system flagged the fastest solar system visitor yet. The Hubble Space Telescope has managed to capture the sharpest ever photograph of the comet known as 3I/ATLAS as it travels at 130,000 miles per hour / 209,215 kph. The 3I/ATLAS, which was first spotted on July 1, has the fastest velocity of any solar system visitor to date, NASA says. The comet's 130,000 mph speed is nearly 100 times the speed of some bullets. The comet's speed suggests that 3I/ATLAS may have originated from a very distant, developing planetary system, which means the comet could be a space fossil with clues about the universe's history. The challenge, of course, was how to photograph something moving 100 times the speed of some bullets and still get a sharp enough photograph that scientists could infer some data from the image. NASA put the Hubble Space Telescope up to the task, using the orbiting telescope's onboard WFC3 charge-coupled camera. The researchers used a single gyroscope to allow the camera to follow the movement of the comet, creating a sharper, more detailed image. The stars in the background of the image are streaked because the camera was moving in order to follow the quick-moving comet, much like the panning technique blurs the background of photos taken following fast action on Earth. The resulting photograph is giving researchers a wealth of different information about the speedy solar system visitor. Researchers now estimate that the comet's nucleus is between 1,000 feet (320 m) and 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) in diameter. The photograph also shows the dust ejecting from the comet on the side that the sun is heating up. The comet's rate of dust loss indicates the comet may have originated 300 million miles from the sun, researchers estimate. 'No one knows where the comet came from,' said David Jewitt, the science team leader for the Hubble observations. 'It's like glimpsing a rifle bullet for a thousandth of a second. You can't project that back with any accuracy to figure out where it started on its path.' The 3I/ATLAS comet was first discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) at the beginning of July 2025. While the comet isn't Earth-bound, its speed indicates the comet could be billions of years old. Researchers will continue to study the comet until it passes too close to the sun to observe sometime in September, though it's expected to be visible again on the other side of the sun around December. You may also like Take a look at the best cameras for astrophotography or the best lenses for astrophotography. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
09-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hubble Captures Glorious New Image of That Mysterious Object Cruising Into Our Solar System
As the mysterious interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS plummets through our Solar System, NASA's good old Hubble Space Telescope has captured the best look yet at the interstellar visitor. On July 21, the interstellar interloper passed close enough to Earth — and to Hubble, which orbits us at about 320 miles above the planet — that the veteran space telescope was able to capture a surprisingly detailed image of it, NASA explains in a statement about the image. In the space agency's incredible shot — the second the Hubble has captured since the discovery of 3I/ATLAS — a "teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust," as NASA calls it, is seen trailing behind the puzzling object, which many scientists suspect is a sizable interstellar comet. Discovered a mere five weeks ago on July 1, 3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, with the first being the ever-mysterious 'Oumuamua back in 2017. As with that strangely elongated visitor, there is some speculation that 3I/ATLAS could be some sort of alien spacecraft — but NASA believes we're looking at the "solid, icy nucleus" of a comet. That said, there's quite a lot about this interstellar visitor that is extraordinary — and unexplained. In an editorial for last month, a pair of astrophysicists posited that 3I/ATLAS is much older than 'Oumuamua and 3I/Borisov, the second-ever recorded interstellar object discovered by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov back in 2019. Those scientists, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor's Aster Taylor and Michigan State University's Darryl Seligman, suggested that this latest interstellar interloper could be anywhere from three to 11 billion years old, and cited its massive speeds of 134,000 mph relative to the Sun as the source of their hypothesis. "Since the influence of the galaxy tends to speed up objects over time," the astrophysicists wrote, "this velocity implies that ATLAS is far older." NASA has, meanwhile, proffered in its latest findings, which have been accepted into the Astrophysical Journal Letters, that 3I/ATLAS' nucleus may be as large as 3.5 miles across or as small as just 1,000 feet in diameter. The new Hubble image played a big role in those estimates, though as the agency noted in another statement, the "solid heart of the comet presently cannot be directly seen, even by Hubble." While scientists continue to glean bits and pieces of information about this out-of-solar-system visitor, there's still one huge, outstanding question about 3I/ATLAS. "No one knows where the comet came from," explained Hubble science leader David Jewitt in the statement. "It's like glimpsing a rifle bullet for a thousandth of a second. You can't project that back with any accuracy to figure out where it started on its path." More on comets: Scientists Just Found Something Very Weird About the Mysterious Object Hurtling Into Our Solar System
