A MYSTERIOUS cosmic object has been spotted zooming through our solar system – and astronomers say it is only the third of its kind.
The “fuzzy” object with a “short tail” is no fur-ball alien, but instead a large icy comet from interstellar space.
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The celestial visitor is only the third interstellar object on record to grace our solar system, and is also likely the largest yet detected.
It follows the rare visits from the famous 1I/ʻOumuamua asteroid in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
“The fact that we see some fuzziness suggests that it is mostly ice rather than mostly rock,” Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told AFP.
Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation, added: “It looks kind of fuzzy… It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.”
The 12-mile-wide comet, known originally as A11pl3Z before it was confirmed to be of interstellar origin, is blazing through the solar system at great speed.
While astronomers are still refining their calculations, the object appears to be zooming more than 60 kilometers (37 miles) a second.
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The comet poses no threat to Earth, said Richard Moissl, head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency (ESA).
It’s closest approach of Earth, which is projected to occur in late October, will see it pass “just inside the orbit of Mars,” according to Moissl.
It will pass our blue dot no closer than 240 million kilometres – over 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the Sun.
By the time it does make its closest path of Earth, it will be hidden by the Sun – meaning stargazers will have no chance of spotting it in the night sky.
While it is expected to reappear by early December, this will only offer astronomers another window for study.
The comet was first spotted on 1 July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile.
Its unusual trajectory immediately raised suspicions that the comet came from an unknown world in interstellar space.
Its current path “means it’s not orbiting our star, but coming from interstellar space and flying off to there again,” according to Moissl.
What’s the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here’s what you need to know, according to Nasa…
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vaporizing)
ESA’s Planetary Defence Office, tasked with safeguarding Earth from potential asteroid and comet impacts, alerted astronomers who can now track the comet’s path.
These efforts are part of ESA’s broader mission to detect, track, and characterise near-Earth objects.
“What makes interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS so extraordinary is their absolutely foreign nature,” ESA wrote in a recent blog post.
“They are remnants of other planetary systems, carrying with them clues about the formation of worlds far beyond our own.
“It may be thousands of years until humans visit a planet in another solar system and interstellar comets offer the tantalising opportunity for us to touch something truly otherworldly.”
That’s why the space agency is preparing the Comet Interceptor mission for 2029.
ESA is set to send a spacecraft into a parking orbit in space to wait for a suitable target comet – or even a rare interstellar object – to retrieve samples from.
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All you need to know about planets in our solar system
Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all…
- How old is Earth? Plus other facts on our planet
- How many moons does Mercury have?
- What colour is Venus?
- How far away is Mars to Earth? And other facts on the red planet
- How big is Jupiter?
- How many moons does Saturn have?
- Does Uranus have rings?
- How many moons does Neptune have?
- How big is Pluto?
- How hot is the Sun?
