Third-ever confirmed interstellar object blazing through solar system
An undated image shows 3I/Atlas, possibly a comet, blazing its way across the solar system at 60km per second.
– Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through our solar system – only the third ever spotted, though scientists suspect many more may slip past unnoticed.
The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball.
'It looks kind of fuzzy,' Dr Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre, which was responsible for the official confirmation, said.
'It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail,' he added.
Dr Richard Moissl, head of planetary defence at the European Space Agency, said the object, originally known as A11pl3Z before it was confirmed to be of interstellar origin, poses no threat to Earth.
'It will fly deep through the solar system, passing just inside the orbit of Mars', but will not hit our neighbouring planet, he said.
Excited astronomers are still refining their calculations, but the object appears to be zooming at more than 60km a second.
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This would mean it is not bound by the Sun's orbit, unlike objects that remain within the solar system.
Its trajectory also 'means it's not orbiting our star, but coming from interstellar space and flying off to there again', Dr Moissl said.
Dr Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, added: 'We think that probably these little ice balls get formed associated with star systems.
'And then as another star passes by, tugs on the ice ball, frees it out. It goes rogue, wanders through the galaxy, and now this one is just passing us.'
A Chile based observatory that is part of the Nasa-funded Atlas survey first discovered the object on July 1.
Professional and amateur astronomers across the world then searched through past telescope data, tracing its trajectory back to at least June 14.
The object is currently estimated to be roughly 10km to 20km wide, Dr Moissl said, which would make it the largest interstellar interloper ever detected. But the object could be smaller if it is made out of ice, which reflects more light.
Dr Veres said the object will continue to brighten as it nears the Sun, bending slightly under the pull of gravity, and is expected to reach its closest point – perihelion – on Oct 29.
It will then recede and exit the solar system over the next few years.
Our third visitor
This marks only the third time humanity has detected an object entering the solar system from the stars.
The first, Oumuamua, was discovered in 2017. It was so strange that at least one prominent scientist became convinced it was an alien vessel, though this has since been contradicted by further research.
Our second interstellar visitor, 2I/Borisov, was spotted in 2019.
There is no reason to suspect an artificial origin for 3I/Atlas, but teams around the world are now racing to answer key questions about things like its shape, composition and rotation.
Dr Mark Norris, an astronomer at Britain's University of Central Lancashire, said the new object appears to be 'moving considerably faster than the other two extra-solar objects that we previously discovered'.
The object is currently roughly around the distance from Jupiter away from Earth, Dr Norris said.
He pointed to modelling estimating that there could be as many as 10,000 interstellar objects drifting through the solar system at any given time, though most would be smaller than the newly discovered object.
If true, this suggests that the newly online Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile could soon be finding these dim interstellar visitors every month, Dr Norris said.
Dr Moissl said it is not feasible to send a mission into space to intercept the new object.
Still, these visitors offer scientists a rare chance to study something outside of our solar system.
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