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.”