Astronomers track object from outside the solar system
The harmless object is currently near Jupiter hundreds of millions of kilometres away and moving toward Mars but it should get no closer to the sun than that, according to scientists.
It is too soon to know whether the object, designated for now as A11pl3Z, is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet or how big and what shape it is.
More observations are needed to confirm its origins.
NASA said it is monitoring the situation.
Astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, believes it is an interstellar object based on its odd path and extreme speed cutting through the solar system.
He estimates its size at about 40km across.
The first confirmed interstellar visitor was in 2017.
It was dubbed Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honour of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it.
Classified at first as an asteroid, the elongated Oumuamua has since showed signs of being a comet.
The second object confirmed to have strayed from another star system into our own is 21/Borisov, discovered in 2019 and believed to be a comet.
Scientists have discovered what might be only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, the European Space Agency says.
The harmless object is currently near Jupiter hundreds of millions of kilometres away and moving toward Mars but it should get no closer to the sun than that, according to scientists.
It is too soon to know whether the object, designated for now as A11pl3Z, is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet or how big and what shape it is.
More observations are needed to confirm its origins.
NASA said it is monitoring the situation.
Astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, believes it is an interstellar object based on its odd path and extreme speed cutting through the solar system.
He estimates its size at about 40km across.
The first confirmed interstellar visitor was in 2017.
It was dubbed Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honour of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it.
Classified at first as an asteroid, the elongated Oumuamua has since showed signs of being a comet.
The second object confirmed to have strayed from another star system into our own is 21/Borisov, discovered in 2019 and believed to be a comet.
Scientists have discovered what might be only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, the European Space Agency says.
The harmless object is currently near Jupiter hundreds of millions of kilometres away and moving toward Mars but it should get no closer to the sun than that, according to scientists.
It is too soon to know whether the object, designated for now as A11pl3Z, is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet or how big and what shape it is.
More observations are needed to confirm its origins.
NASA said it is monitoring the situation.
Astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, believes it is an interstellar object based on its odd path and extreme speed cutting through the solar system.
He estimates its size at about 40km across.
The first confirmed interstellar visitor was in 2017.
It was dubbed Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honour of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it.
Classified at first as an asteroid, the elongated Oumuamua has since showed signs of being a comet.
The second object confirmed to have strayed from another star system into our own is 21/Borisov, discovered in 2019 and believed to be a comet.
Scientists have discovered what might be only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, the European Space Agency says.
The harmless object is currently near Jupiter hundreds of millions of kilometres away and moving toward Mars but it should get no closer to the sun than that, according to scientists.
It is too soon to know whether the object, designated for now as A11pl3Z, is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet or how big and what shape it is.
More observations are needed to confirm its origins.
NASA said it is monitoring the situation.
Astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, believes it is an interstellar object based on its odd path and extreme speed cutting through the solar system.
He estimates its size at about 40km across.
The first confirmed interstellar visitor was in 2017.
It was dubbed Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honour of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it.
Classified at first as an asteroid, the elongated Oumuamua has since showed signs of being a comet.
The second object confirmed to have strayed from another star system into our own is 21/Borisov, discovered in 2019 and believed to be a comet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
18 hours ago
- The Advertiser
New comet is third interstellar object in solar system
Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system. According to US space agency NASA, the interloper - named 3I/ATLAS - was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system. Journeying at a speed of around 60km per second from the direction of the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 670 million km from Earth. "Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition," University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday. The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1I/'Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019. "The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10km in diameter," Denneau said. "It currently has a faint coma," Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus, "but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don't know what will happen, so that's exciting." Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 240 million km away, equivalent to more than one-and-a-half times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 670 million km from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 210 million km away from our star. The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth. Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system. According to US space agency NASA, the interloper - named 3I/ATLAS - was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system. Journeying at a speed of around 60km per second from the direction of the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 670 million km from Earth. "Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition," University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday. The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1I/'Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019. "The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10km in diameter," Denneau said. "It currently has a faint coma," Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus, "but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don't know what will happen, so that's exciting." Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 240 million km away, equivalent to more than one-and-a-half times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 670 million km from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 210 million km away from our star. The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth. Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system. According to US space agency NASA, the interloper - named 3I/ATLAS - was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system. Journeying at a speed of around 60km per second from the direction of the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 670 million km from Earth. "Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition," University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday. The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1I/'Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019. "The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10km in diameter," Denneau said. "It currently has a faint coma," Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus, "but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don't know what will happen, so that's exciting." Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 240 million km away, equivalent to more than one-and-a-half times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 670 million km from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 210 million km away from our star. The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth. Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system. According to US space agency NASA, the interloper - named 3I/ATLAS - was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system. Journeying at a speed of around 60km per second from the direction of the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 670 million km from Earth. "Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition," University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday. The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1I/'Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019. "The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10km in diameter," Denneau said. "It currently has a faint coma," Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus, "but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don't know what will happen, so that's exciting." Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 240 million km away, equivalent to more than one-and-a-half times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 670 million km from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 210 million km away from our star. The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth.
Perth Now
20 hours ago
- Perth Now
New comet is third interstellar object in solar system
Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted comet hailing from parts unknown, only the third time such an interstellar object has been observed visiting our solar system. According to US space agency NASA, the interloper - named 3I/ATLAS - was first spotted on Tuesday by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Astronomers said its unusual trajectory indicated it had ventured from beyond our solar system. Journeying at a speed of around 60km per second from the direction of the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, 3I/ATLAS is presently located about 670 million km from Earth. "Beyond that we do not know very much, and there are many efforts underway to observe this object with larger telescopes to determine composition," University of Hawaii astronomer Larry Denneau, co-principal investigator for ATLAS, said on Thursday. The only other such interstellar visitors previously observed by astronomers were objects called 1I/'Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh), detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019. "The comet has some similarities to 2I/Borisov in that it appears to be an icy comet, but it is much larger, possibly 10km in diameter," Denneau said. "It currently has a faint coma," Denneau added, referring to the cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus, "but the coma and tail may increase dramatically as the object comes closer to the sun. Its closest approach to the sun will be later this year, when it will come inside the orbit of Mars. We don't know what will happen, so that's exciting." Astronomers said the comet poses no threat to Earth and will never come closer than 240 million km away, equivalent to more than one-and-a-half times the distance between Earth and the sun. It is currently located about 670 million km from the sun and will reach its closest approach to the sun around October 30, when it will be about 210 million km away from our star. The ATLAS network is a NASA-funded telescope survey built and operated by the University of Hawaii, with five telescopes around the world that scan the night sky continuously to look for objects that could threaten Earth.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Mysterious superfast object from beyond our solar system rockets towards the sun
Astronomers are racing to determine the nature of a big, bright, superfast object from beyond our solar system hurtling towards the sun. The European Space Agency said it could be the third-ever confirmed object we've detected in our cosmic neighbourhood that originated from outside our solar system. The agency is monitoring the eccentric path of the ultra-rare interstellar object, provisionally called A11pl3Z, through a network of telescopes across the globe. The object is sailing past Jupiter's orbit at 60 kilometres a second and will fly deep into the solar system, skimming past Mars. 'It's travelling whoppingly fast at an estimated 245,000km/h,' said Swinburne University of Technology astrophysicist Sara Webb. 'It is absolutely yeeting it through the solar system.' That sensational speed is the giveaway that this is probably a visitor from beyond our solar system. Asteroid belts and comets orbiting around the sun travel at speeds below the 'escape velocity' of the sun's gravitational pull. Any faster and they'd rocket off into the dark of deep space. 'This object, though, it looks like it is travelling at a speed that would not allow it to remain within our solar system's orbit,' Webb said.
