A stunning new image reveals an interstellar comet speeding through our solar system. This comet, known as 3I/ATLAS, was captured by the Hubble Telescope on July 21, when it was about 277 million miles from Earth.
The image shows a teardrop-shaped dust cloud trailing behind the comet’s icy core. Comets are made up of ice, dust, and rocks. As they get close to stars, heat causes them to release gas and dust, forming the iconic tails we recognize.
The Hubble isn’t the only telescope tracking this fast-moving object, which was first spotted on July 1. 3I/ATLAS is racing through space at an astonishing 130,000 miles per hour, making it the fastest comet recorded from outside our solar system.
New observations from Hubble are helping scientists understand the comet’s size. Although they can’t see the nucleus directly, they estimate it could be as large as 3.5 miles or as small as 1,000 feet across, according to a recent study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Other telescopes like the James Webb and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory are also gathering data on 3I/ATLAS. It’s expected to stay visible from Earth until September, before moving too close to the sun and reemerging in December.
Yet, questions remain about the comet’s origins. Lead study author David Jewitt, an astronomy professor at UCLA, noted, “No one knows where the comet came from. It’s like glimpsing a rifle bullet for a thousandth of a second.” This speed suggests it’s truly a visitor from another part of our galaxy.
Scientists believe 3I/ATLAS has been journeying through interstellar space for billions of years. The gravitational pull from nearby stars has likely increased its speed over time.
This is only the third interstellar object documented in our solar system, following ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. Matthew Hopkins, a recent doctoral graduate from the University of Oxford, emphasized the significance of this comet’s speed. “This velocity helps us predict the properties of interstellar objects,” he said.
Interestingly, 3I/ATLAS is believed to be over 7.6 billion years old, while our solar system is just 4.5 billion years old.
It’s also worth noting that smaller interstellar objects pass through our solar system quite frequently. According to Hopkins, around 80 objects the size of ‘Oumuamua travel within Jupiter’s orbit yearly, but they usually go unnoticed unless they get very close to Earth.
Looking ahead, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is expected to enhance our ability to discover interstellar objects. With its large mirror and rapid sky survey capabilities, it could detect between five and 50 interstellar objects over the next decade.
As Jewitt puts it, we are on the brink of discovering a new population of interstellar visitors, thanks to our evolving technology and capabilities.
