Latest news with #3IATLAS
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Comet 3I/ATLAS: A Cosmic Visitor From Beyond Our Stars
NASA scientists have discovered a rare visitor from beyond our solar system, a newly identified interstellar comet named '3I/ATLAS,' currently speeding by on a brief cosmic tour. Comets are typically named after their discoverers – here, the ATLAS survey team. The 'I' stands for 'interstellar,' showing it came from beyond our solar system, and the '3' marks it as only the third type of this comet ever found. The comet, first spotted on July 1 by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile, is only the third known interstellar object ever observed passing through our neighborhood. It arrived from the direction of the star Sagittarius and is now cruising about 420 million miles away from Earth, the space agency reported earlier this month. Don't worry, NASA says that is more than enough of a safe distance from the Earth's atmosphere. Researchers say 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to our planet, whatsoever, regardless of its proximity and rare flight path. It will remain at least 150 million miles away at all times, comfortably farther than Mars' distance from Earth. The icy comet is scheduled to make its closest approach to the Sun on October 30, when it will pass just inside Mars' orbit. In a remarkable scientific twist, astronomers have since reviewed archives from three other ATLAS telescopes, uncovering images of the comet dating back to June 14. These 'pre-discovery' images and observations are helping NASA and its researchers learn more about the rare comet's trajectory and properties. 3I/ATLAS will stay visible to ground-based telescopes through September before it swings back behind the Sun. It's also expected to 'reappear' in early December, giving astronomers a second chance to observe this cosmic visitor before it drifts back into deep space. Interstellar comets like 3I/ATLAS offer scientists a rare glimpse into materials from other star systems, potentially unlocking clues about how comets form in distant corners of our galaxy. 'This is like our chance to randomly sample what's going on in the rest of the galaxy,' University of Oxford astrophysicist Chris Lintott told NPR. 'I think the idea that we could see bits of other solar systems flying through our own really captivated the attention of a whole lot of people who started trying to work on these things.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- 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
05-07-2025
- 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
04-07-2025
- 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
04-07-2025
- 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.
