Rare object from beyond our solar system spotted zipping around Earth
The object — provisionally known as A11pl3Z — gained attention on Tuesday when it was spotted by telescopes for NASA's early warning system for asteroid impacts. Shortly after the discovery, amateur and professional astronomers looked through archival images and found it in earlier data from June. More than 100 observations have been made of the object, including from telescopes in Chile and Arizona.
The object is traveling fast, speeding at our solar system at about 245,000 kilometers per hour relative to the sub, according to astronomer Josep M. Trigo Rodríguez. It is currently located just inside the orbit of Jupiter. The object — which will get a new name when it is approved and published by the Minor Planet Center — is currently 528 million kilometers from Earth (roughly the the distance it would take to travel from Earth to the moon 1,370 times.)
It's uncertain if the object — appearing very faint at the moment — is a comet or asteroid at this time, according to scientists on Minor Planet mailing list. But the observations so far have helped track the object's journey, indicating it likely came from outside of the solar system from a thin galactic disk.
The object could between 12 miles (20 kilometers) to 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide, according to various scientists. Marshall Eubanks, chief scientist at Space Initiatives Inc., estimated it could come close enough to Mars in early October to be observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, although it would be only about 0.2 pixels wide. It is expected to reach its closest point to the sun later around October 29, reaching a distance about twice as far as Earth is from the sun.
This is the third interstellar object to be observed in our solar system, with the other two found in the past decade. In 2017, scientists observed the first interstellar object known as Oumuamua, appearing rocky and cigar-shaped. Although it puzzled scientists because it didn't quite fit the definition of an asteroid or comet. In 2019, scientists saw our second interstellar visitor, comet 2I/Borisov.
Part of the recent discoveries may be chalked up to more observations over time and a significantly improved capability to scan the skies, scientists said on the list serv. Such discoveries may become more commonplace with the surveys from the Vera Rubin Observatory, which has already found thousands of new asteroids in just 10 hours of operation.
Compared to the other two previously found objects, A11pl3Z has a unique orbit. It has a very extreme hyperbolic trajectory through the solar system (or a high eccentricity) — meaning it won't be coming back to our solar system once it leaves. More observations will help scientists determine the object's path through our solar system, where it came from and if it's a comet.
The object will appear brighter as it approaches Earth, but models show it will likely be on the other side of the sun. But, don't be bummed, there's probably another interstellar object waiting to be discovered in time.
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