Latest news with #3IATLAS
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious Object Headed Into Our Solar System Is Coming From the Center of the Galaxy
Folks, it's official: the object that astronomers recently spotted blowing through the outer solar system came from interstellar space. Yesterday, the intriguing stranger was named A11pl3Z. Now, it's earned the esteemed designation 3I/ATLAS — that "I" standing for "interstellar." 3I/ATLAS is currently located between the orbits of the asteroid belt and Jupiter, the New York Times reports, where it's about 416 million miles away from the Sun, NASA said. That's equal to four and a half times the distance between the Earth and our star. But it's approaching fast. As we speak, 3I/ATLAS is hurtling toward the inner solar system at a speed of about 130,000 miles per hour — a "thousand times over the speed limit on a highway," Harvard's Avi Loeb quipped. "This thing is traveling pretty fast," Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, told the NYT. "If you trace its orbit backward, it seems to be coming from the center of the galaxy, more or less," Chodas added. "It definitely came from another solar system. We don't know which one." 3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed interstellar object to reach our Sun's domain — hence the "3." The first was 'Oumuamua, spotted in 2017, which became famed for its unusually elongated shape. The second, dubbed Borisov, was a comet that spectacularly began to break apart. Provisionally, this latest visitor also appears to be a comet, making it the second known "rogue" comet in history. Its discovery and confirmation as an extrasolar visitor were a collaborative effort. What initially appeared to be an asteroid was first flagged Tuesday by a telescope in Chile that's part of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center quickly added the intriguing object to its list of confirmed near-Earth objects. So did NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Soon, more than 100 observations from telescopes across the globe poured in, including "tentative reports of cometary activity," the Minor Planet Center said Wednesday, providing enough data to designate it 3I/ATLAS. "There's no uncertainty" about its interstellar origins, Chodas told the NYT, because it's moving too fast to come from our own solar system. We can only speculate how it got here. Per the NYT, it probably formed as a comet around another star, before a gravitational interaction, perhaps a passing star, booted it out of its home system. How large 3I/ATLAS is is also a matter of some debate. If it were a rocky asteroid, the interstellar interloper would have to be about 12 miles wide to reflect the levels of light we're seeing, according to the NYT, which is what astronomers initially estimated. But since it's a comet, it's much harder to say. Comets owe their luminous appearance to a halo of gas and dust known as a coma, which is released when the object is heated up by sunlight. These comas appear much larger than the solid object at their center, and their tails even more so; Borisov's was nearly 100,000 miles long, astronomers estimated, or about 14 times the size of the Earth. "You can't infer the size of the solid object from the brightness of the coma," Chodas told the NYT. "So it's too early to say how big this object is." The good news is that there will be plenty of time to study 3I/ATLAS, which hasn't always been the case in our limited encounters with interstellar visitors; 'Oumuaua, for instance, vanished after just a few weeks. "It'll be easily observable for astronomers around the world," Chodas told the NYT. "It should be visible well into next year to large telescopes." 3I/ATLAS is expected to reach its closest approach to the Sun around October 30, NASA said, at a distance of about 130 million miles, putting it inside the orbit of Mars. More on: Scientists Investigate What Happens If You Snort Moon Dust
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Mysterious interstellar object caught on camera as scientist says it could be an alien spacecraft
A mysterious interstellar object hurtling through the solar system has been caught on camera for the first time. First spotted by on July 1, scientists from around the world have now confirmed that this unexpected visitor has travelled through space from a distant star. Officially titled 3I/ATLAS, the rare interloper is 12 miles (20km) long and hurtling towards the sun at 135,000 miles per hour. Now, using a powerful telescope in Hawaii, the European Space Agency (ESA) has captured the first video of 3I/ATLAS as it journeys through space. The short video shows that the object is extremely bright, which means it is either many times larger than any other interstellar object or has another source of illumination. Most experts agree that this extra illumination is caused by the fact that 3I/ATLAS is an active comet, producing a glowing 'coma' of ice and gas as it approaches the sun. However, one Harvard professor claims that the light might not be able to be explained by natural means. Professor Avi Loeb, a physicist at Harvard University, told MailOnline: 'If it is not a comet, then its large brightness would be a big surprise and potentially signal a non-natural origin, perhaps from artificial light.' 3I/ATLAS was detected as a faint speck of light by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope. Since then, professional and amateur astronomers around the world have scrambled to gather more data. Scientists quickly combed older data to find observations of the object that had previously been missed, in a process called precovery. Combining these with hundreds of new observations, scientists were able to officially confirm that 3I/ATLAS is an interstellar object. Currently 420 million miles (670 million kilometres) away from Earth, 3I/ATLAS's trajectory and incredible speed mean it must be passing through our solar system after being ejected by its own star. NASA predicts that it will reach its closest point to the sun on October 30, at a distance of 130 million miles (210 million km) - passing just within the orbit of Mars. Thankfully, the object poses no threat to Earth and will pass harmlessly at around 150 million miles (240 million km) away at its closest point. This is only the third time that scientists have managed to spot an interstellar object passing through the solar system. The first interstellar object was Oumuamua in 2017, followed by Borisov in 2019. When Oumuamua was first detected, certain irregularities in its spin and velocity prompted Professor Loeb and his co-author, Dr Shmuel Bialy, to suggest that it could be alien in origin. Professor Loeb said: 'Oumuamua exhibited a large non-gravitational acceleration which was anomalous given its lack of evaporation.' Similarly, Professor Loeb now suggests that 3I/ATLAS could be a similar type of alien craft. While experts say there is no evidence to support this idea, some researchers say we can't rule out the possibility just yet. Professor Michael Garrett, Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics said: 'More observations are definitely needed.' Asked whether the object could be an alien craft, Professor Garret responded: 'Who knows - it could be - that's why it will be important to make as many different measurements as possible to test all hypotheses. 'It's unlikely that it is, but that doesn't mean to say we shouldn't check. We don't know much about these interstellar objects, so we learn more each time we encounter one.' However, Professor Garret added that there is currently no evidence the object is alien in nature, and it is more likely to be 'an icy body that has escaped from another planetary system and wandered by the solar system by chance'. Currently, the overwhelming majority of evidence points to the fact that 3I/ATLAS is a comet. This is because astronomers have spotted a nebulous envelope of gas and dust known as a coma surrounding the object as it is heated by the sun. Based on these observations, both NASA and ESA are now confident enough to confirm that 3I/ATLAS is an interstellar comet. Dr Mark Norris, an astronomer from the University Of Central Lancashire, said: 'If there's a coma, it by definition is a comet, because this means that it is outgassing. 'This thing is still quite far from the sun, so you can expect, therefore, as it gets closer, you should get a bigger cloud of material; and that should become clear as we get more observations going forward.' However, by the time the comet reaches its closest point to the Earth, it will be hidden behind the sun, so astronomers will need to wait until it reemerges in December to catch the best observations.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Watch: Mysterious interstellar object passes through our solar system
A mysterious interstellar object, named 3I/ATLAS, has been observed travelling through our solar system. Images from the Canary Islands Institute of Physics captured the object, which Nasa has confirmed is only the third interstellar object ever seen. Nasa said that 3I/ATLAS will pass Earth at a distance of approximately 150 million miles, posing no threat to the planet. The object is expected to be visible to ground-based telescopes through September, reappearing in early December for its closest approach to Earth. Watch the video in full above.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Watch as mysterious ‘interstellar' object passes through the solar system
This is the moment a mysterious object that has come from interstellar space was spotted travelling through our solar system. Images shared by the Canary Islands Institute of Physics on Thursday (3 July) shows the entity weaving through stars as it heads towards our sun. Nasa scientists have confirmed that the object, known as 3I/ATLAS, is an 'interstellar object' - only the third of its kind ever seen. The space agency confirmed that it will travel past the Earth at a distance of about 150 million miles, posing no threat to the planet. It should be visible to ground-based telescopes through September, after which it will pass too close to the Sun to observe, but will reappear in early December in its closest approach to the earth.
Arabian Business
2 days ago
- Science
- Arabian Business
UAE observatory captures rare interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third ever discovered
An astronomical breakthrough has taken place in the UAE, as the Al Khatim Astronomical Observatory in Abu Dhabi successfully imaged a newly discovered interstellar comet—only the third ever recorded in human history. The object, named 3I/ATLAS, was discovered by NASA on July 1 using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile. Classified as an interstellar comet, it originated from another solar system and has been drifting through deep space for billions of years before entering ours just days ago. UAE captures rare interstellar comet The '3I' prefix signifies its status as the third interstellar object ever detected, following ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. The comet is currently about 670million kilometres from the Sun, travelling at a staggering 221,000 kilometres per hour. It poses no threat to Earth, with its closest approach expected to be 240 million kilometres away. On July 3, astronomers at Al Khatim Observatory captured the faint comet —currently at magnitude 17.5—over a 45-minute session, producing 45 long-exposure images. While the stars appear as streaks in the photographs, the comet is visible as a moving dot. The UAE observatory's findings have been officially submitted to the Minor Planet Centre (MPC) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), making Al Khatim the first Arab observatory to document scientific observations of 3I/ATLAS. The comet will reach its closest point to the Sun on October 30, 2025, at a distance of 210 million kilometres and a predicted brightness of magnitude 11, making it faintly visible through amateur telescopes.
