It’s not in this world. Or, more accurately, this solar system.
On July 1, astronomers discovered an object near Jupiter’s orbit, which was somewhat strange. It has a strange orbit, one that is not taken away around the sun like most asteroids or comets.
It can finally be confirmed that the object (named 3i/Atlas or C/2025 N1 (Atlas)) is an interstellar visitor.
Now, using the National Science Foundation (NSF) Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii, astronomers have captured the first detailed image of the universe’s iTerloper.
“We look forward to the bounty of new data and insights as this object will warm in the sun and then continue the cold, dark journey between the stars,” Martin Still, the NSF program director at the International Gemini Observatory, said in a statement.
The comet will continue to be seen in large telescopes until September, after which it will be lost in the sun’s glare.
Learn more about comets
“Since this is just the third interstellar visitor we’ve discovered, we’re delighted to know this brand new object,” Paul Wiegert, a professor of astronomy at Western University, told CBC News in an email.
Astronomers like to study comets and asteroids because they were left behind by the earliest strata of our solar system and could reveal the situation at that time. Being able to learn something from outside our neighborhood may provide more knowledge about other stellar systems.
Current observations show that the comet has a diameter of about 20 kilometers, much larger than the previous two interstellar comet astronomers passed through our solar system.
The first comet is ‘Oumuamua, which has a diameter of 200 meters. The second one is 2i/borisov, with a diameter of 1 km.
The fact that 3i/Atlas is so great is the gospel of astronomers: it makes research easier, especially when approaching the Earth. It will take a close approach in December, but pose no threat.
The new visitor may be the oldest comet ever, according to a new study by author Matthew Hopkins at the Royal Astronomical Conference in Durham, England.
He estimates its origins are part of our galaxy, home to ancient stars and says it may have been 7 billion years old, much larger than our 4.5 billion years.
This new visitor is busy: when it is discovered, it travels at a speed of 61 kilometers per second.
How did they know this is not from our neighborhood
Astronomers can determine the origin of a comet or asteroid based on the eccentricity of their orbit or the way they extend out of their path.
An eccentricity of 0 means it is a perfect circular track. An eccentricity greater than one means that the orbit will not circle around the sun, and the higher the value, the more the orbit will extend.
Astronomers calculated the orbit of our third comet, which can be seen in this visualization. It will be closest to the Earth in October.
In the case of 3i/Atlas, it orbits at 6.2, which is how astronomers know it comes from outside the solar system. For comparison, the eccentricity of ‘Oumuamua is 1.2 and the eccentricity of 2i/Borisov is 3.6.
At present, this new comet is still in Jupiter’s orbit, about 465 million kilometers away from Earth. It will enter our planet on December 19 at about 270 million kilometers.
It will reach the sun’s closet at 210 million kilometers on October 30, which will be in the orbit of Mars.
Although astronomers soon learn about this latest intruder, they hope to learn more over time.
“It looks like a comet in our own solar system. That is, it has been frozen for billions of years when it wanders in the Milky Way, but now [is] From our sunlight it gently turns into steam. This makes the 3i/Atlas look like blurry and the tail is visible in the image. ” Wiegert said.
“But we really don’t know if this is like one of our comets (the building blocks left when the Earth and planets form) or something completely different.”
