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Imagine an object traveling through space at a speed of 60 kilometers every second! That’s faster than anything humans have ever built. This is not science fiction but the story of a newly discovered comet named 3I/ATLAS, which has become only the third known interstellar object to visit our solar system. Scientists are calling it a rare and exciting event.
Comet 3I/ATLAS was first seen by astronomers using a telescope system called ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System), located in Rio Hurtado, Chile. This telescope is part of a project run by the University of Hawaii that looks out for dangerous objects in space. On a recent Tuesday, ATLAS spotted something unusual — a comet whose path showed it wasn’t from around here. It came from outside our solar system, likely from a distant part of our galaxy.
At the time of discovery, the comet was about 420 million miles (or 670 million kilometers) away from Earth. That is farther than the distance from the Earth to Jupiter! Yet, its high speed and strange orbit made scientists curious. It appeared to be coming from the direction of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, moving too fast to be caught by the Sun’s gravity.
So far, scientists have only found two other interstellar objects. The first one was ʻOumuamua, found in 2017. It was shaped like a long rock and passed quickly through the inner solar system before heading out again. The second was 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019. Unlike ʻOumuamua, Borisov looked more like a regular comet, with a glowing coma and tail made of gas and dust.
Comet 3I/ATLAS appears to be similar to Borisov but is larger in size. Experts believe it could be up to 10 kilometers wide. It also has a faint coma, which is a cloud of gas and dust around the comet’s core. Scientists think this coma will grow larger as the comet moves closer to the Sun and gets heated.
According to researchers, 3I/ATLAS will make its closest approach to the Sun in late 2025, when it will travel inside the orbit of Mars. However, it will never come closer than 240 million kilometers to Earth, which is about one and a half times the distance between Earth and the Sun. After that, it will continue on its journey through space, never to return.
Why is this discovery so important? Because interstellar objects carry secrets from other star systems. By studying them, we can learn about the materials and processes in distant parts of the galaxy. It’s like receiving a message in a bottle from another world.
Scientists are now preparing to study 3I/ATLAS more closely using larger telescopes. They hope to understand its composition and behavior. Each discovery like this brings us closer to understanding the vast universe we live in.
So next time you look up at the stars, remember — something from far beyond our solar system is passing through, quietly telling us that the cosmos is full of surprises.
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