New interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is hurtling through the solar system

[LazyHippo]

A rare interstellar visitor from beyond our solar system is racing toward the sun.

 

Astronomers have identified this cosmic interloper as '3I/ATLAS', making it only the third confirmed object from outside the solar system after 'Oumuamua' (2017) and comet '2I/Borisov' (2019). The interstellar comet, originally designated C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), was observed on July 1 by the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile. It has since been designated 3I/ATLAS by the Minor Planet Center (MPC), with "3I" marking it as the third known interstellar object.

 

"There are tentative reports of cometary activity," The MPC report states. "With a marginal coma and a short 3" tail".

 

Currently, 3I/ATLAS is about 4.5 astronomical units (AU) — or 670 million kilometers (416 million miles) — from the sun according to NASA, and around magnitude 18.8, far too faint for backyard telescopes.
 

 

Trajectory of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
 

 

But it's expected to brighten slightly as it approaches perihelion (closest point to the sun) on Oct. 30, when it will pass just 1.4 AU (130 million miles or 210 million km) from the sun inside the orbit of Mars.

The object is speeding through the solar system at 68 kilometers per second (152,000 mph) relative to the sun, and it poses no threat to Earth, according to NASA.

 

After dipping behind the sun in late fall, 3I/ATLAS is expected to reappear in early December, giving astronomers another chance to study this rare visitor from beyond our cosmic neighborhood.
 

 

3I/ATLAS imaged on July 2 by Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi, The Virtual Telescope Project)
 

 

 

@RedBaird said on 01/06/2025

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I swear, @LazyHippo, that you are someday going to announce the End of the World here! 

 

Not yet bud but close call 😄