Don’t Miss the First-Ever Livestream of Interstellar Visitor 3I/ATLAS Zooming Toward Earth!

An exciting new visitor is zooming through our solar system. For the first time, you can watch this interstellar wonder on a livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project this Thursday, July 3.

This celestial traveler, initially named A11pl3Z, was detected by researchers working with the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), which uses telescopes in Hawaii, Chile, and South Africa to scan the night sky. On July 1, they confirmed it was an interstellar object, meaning it comes from beyond the sun’s gravitational pull.

Now officially named 3I/ATLAS, it’s racing toward the sun at about 152,000 mph (245,000 km/h). Unlike other known solar objects, it is on a straight path. Experts from NASA suggest it is likely a comet.

While this object is currently too faint to see without powerful telescopes, there’s hope it might brighten up enough to be visible through backyard telescopes soon.

The livestream—a view from a telescope in Manciano, Italy—will start at 6:00 p.m. ET on July 3. You can watch it on the Virtual Telescope Project‘s website or their YouTube channel.

Interestingly, 3I/ATLAS isn’t the first interstellar object we’ve seen. Previously, Comet 2I/Borisov appeared in 2019, while ‘Oumuamua made headlines in 2017, sparking debates about its origins. Scientists believe that many more interstellar objects might pass by unnoticed.

Current estimates suggest 3I/ATLAS is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) wide and is currently around 4.5 times farther from the sun than Earth. It will come closest to the sun on October 30, at about 1.4 times the distance from Earth to the sun. During this time, it will also pass relatively close to Mars, within 0.4 astronomical units.

Don’t worry, though; this comet poses no threat to Earth. NASA has confirmed it will be at least 1.6 astronomical units away when it sails past the sun. This cosmic journey offers scientists a unique chance to study the composition and behavior of an interstellar object up close.

The excitement doesn’t stop there. Astronomers are racing to gather more data on 3I/ATLAS before it moves out of reach later this year. The object will reappear in December, making it a perfect target for advanced telescopes like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and possibly even the James Webb Space Telescope.

This rare encounter presents a golden opportunity to explore our universe and understand more about the mysterious objects that travel through it.

For more details on interstellar objects and related topics, you can refer to this NASA article.

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