Third visitor to another star detected to cross the solar system at high speed

After the oumuamua and 2i/borisov, a third interstellar body, called 3I/Atlas, was detected in our solar system and will pass the great speed near Mars. Finding him so soon “it was as if the gods of astronomy were laughing at us.”

For the third time in history, astronomers have detected a new interstellar visitor – a object of another star – that is entering our solar system at great speed.

First called A11pl3Z and now designated as 3i/atlasthe comet was spotted by a research telescope in Chile on July 1 and the center of minor planets of the international astronomical Union on the same day.

To reconstruct your trajectoryastronomers researched in older heavenly surveys and found their position as early as mid -June.

According to NASA, the comet represents no threat to the earth, and will remain at least 1.6 astronomical units – About 240 million kilometers.

3i/atlas seems to be crossing the solar system in a straight line and at such a high speed that The severity of the sun cannot capture itso astronomers have the certainty that the object has alien originsS – came from another star system.

The object can have up to 20 km wide and is currently within the orbit of Jupiter. Astronomers estimate that near the sun in October.

O first known interstellar visitora bizarre object similar to an asteroid called ‘, came from the direction of the Lira constellation and was spotted in October 2017.

Since ‘Oumuamua moved away from sight just 2.5 months after his discovery, astronomers only managed to enhance the object – which gave rise to what this object really would be. One theory defended it until it would be one.

A second object, was first spotted in August 2019. Later the astronomers determined that it had – it was a Errante comet of the constellation of cassiopeia.

“What is amazing about 3i/Atlas is that we discover it on its way to the solar system,” he says Pamela Gayastronoma of the Institute of Planetary Sciences based on Illinois, quoted by.

This means that Scientists will have enough time to observe your route through the sun. 3i/atlas probably will be visible from the earth until 2026.

But astronomers are not stopped either.

“The hurry at this time is that We want to observe it before warm while heading to the inner solar system, ”he says Chris LinTettOxford University astronomer.

“We are interested in studying it as a frozen relic From another planetary system, not a frozen relic of a planetary system that was well cooked by our sun, ”notes Lintott

Additional observations will help Determine the composition of 3i/atlasa “rare opportunity to get data on another solar system that we cannot get otherwise,” says Gay. This information could illuminate how the planets form throughout the Milky Way.

Astronomers expect see more interstellar visitors – Especially with the growing role of citizens and new facilities such as the VERA RUBIN OBSERVATORYin Chile, which will start collecting scientific data this year.

Capture 3i/atlas before that It was a scam of lucksays Lintott. “I knew about this object about 30 seconds after waking up, and I laugh at laughter“.

“We had resigned to the fact that we were going to expect the Vera Rubin Observatory to start working to find another interstellar object, and having another observatory before it found an interstellar object this week was how the gods of astronomy to laugh at us“.