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A mysterious, uninvited guest was found shooting dead at a broken speed in the solar system. And for the first time we can see this interstellar visitor barreling towards us, thanks to the free live stream of the Virtual Telescope Project.
The newly discovered interloper, first called the A11PL3Z, was revealed to us on Tuesday (July 1). Researchers found it in data collected by the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Trastor Alt System (ATLAS), which automatically scanned the night sky using telescopes in Hawaii, Chile and South Africa.
The mystical objects travel towards the sun at 152,000 mph (245,000 km/h), unlike other known objects in the solar system, are set in a very flat and straight trajectory.
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Many experts initially predicted it was an interstellar object. That is, it originates beyond the effects of the solar gravity and has enough momentum to shoot straight through space neighbours without slowing down. On Wednesday (July 2), NASA confirmed this and revealed that the intruder is likely a comet. It is now officially named 3i/Atlas.
Extsolar entities are too faint to be visible through naked eye or amateur starry equipment, but they can be bright enough to become visible in the backyard telescopes in the coming weeks and months. However, the upcoming live stream of the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP) shares the views from VTP’s powerful telescope in Manciano, Italy.
The live stream will be recorded on July 3rd and can be viewed on VTP’s YouTube channel.
Related: 1 Million “Interstellar Objects” – each larger than the Statue of Liberty – could potentially lurk in the outer solar system
Only two other confirmed interstellar visitors have been discovered up to now. Comet 2i/Borisov photographed the solar system in 2019. ‘Oumuamua is a cigar-shaped object that made headlines in 2017 when some astronomers claimed it was a potentially aliamplobe, before experts showed that it was likely a rock in the hydrogen outflow path. However, scientists suspect that more interstellar intruders are likely to pass through our universe neighbours.
The 3i/Atlas is thought to be measured up to 12 miles (20 km) in diameter, and is currently about 4.5 times the Earth’s Sun. On October 30th of our home star, we reach a point near the sun called recent times on October 30th, reaching a 1.4 Earth sun distance, or within the Astronomical Unit (AU). Shortly before this happens, the comet takes the closest approach to Mars, coming within the red planet 0.4 Au.
During the comet’s solar flyby, the Earth will be 3i/Atlas on the other side of the sun. This object could take the closest approach to Earth in December. As a result, “comets pose no threat to Earth, [minimum] “Astronomical unit distance of at least 1.6,” a NASA official wrote in a statement.
Astronomers are currently competing to learn more about rare objects before leaving the solar system at some point next year. Researchers can study it again until the end of September, when the sun is obscured by the rays of the sun, and from December, when the comet reappears from behind our home star.
Interstellar visitors could be imaged by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the world’s most powerful optical telescope, which recently released its first image.
Some researchers also suggest using James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Mars Rovers to shoot objects that shoot towards the sun.
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