Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Latest News

Recently, NASA astronomers have confirmed the detection of water’s chemical fingerprint on the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.

About Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

• It is the third known interstellar object from outside our solar system after 1I/ʻOumuamua(2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019). 
• It has hyperbolic orbit and travels at 57–68 km/s speed relative to the Sun.
• It will exit the solar system permanently after a brief interaction with the Sun.
• This interstellar comet was first seen by a NASA-supported telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, which is part of the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey.

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Physical Characteristics of Interstellar  Comet 3I/ATLAS

• 3I/ATLAS is confirmed to be an active comet, with a visible coma, a cloud of ice particles and dust surrounding the nucleus.
• As it nears the Sun, it is expected to develop a tail, a characteristic cometary feature formed by solar heating.
• Photometric analysis shows a reddish hue suggests the surface may be rich in complex organic compounds or water ice.
• The nucleus is estimated to be 10–30 km wide.

What are interstellar Objects?

• These are celestial bodies that originate outside the solar system, and travel through it. These objects are not gravitationally bound to a star.
• They can come from other solar systems and be thrown into interstellar space (the area between the stars) due to collisions or be slingshotted by a planet’s or star’s gravity.
• The trajectory of these objects is basically open-ended hyperbolic orbit, where there is a perihelion point (closest to the Sun) but no aphelion.

Source: ET