Comet 3I/Atlas is currently closest to Earth

The icy object, which releases dust and gas, poses no threat to Earth. It is suspected that the comet is significantly older than our own solar system, explained Alexander Pikhard from the Vienna Working Group for Astronomy (WAA) to the APA.

The comet's trajectory suggests that it originates from a region of the Milky Way where predominantly older star systems are located. This leads to the assumption "that its age can be estimated at seven billion years," said Pikhard. However, this can only be definitively stated if the material of the comet could be examined. This possibility does not exist, which is why "not much scientific insight is to be expected."

Space probes for closer examination could not be launched quickly enough. However, it is possible to spectrographically examine the comet's atmosphere. The composition will be typical for comets, "because even if it comes from another solar system, there is no reason to believe it has a completely different nature." The fact that it is an interstellar object is indicated by the high orbital speed of up to 250,000 kilometers per hour. This would not fit an object from our solar system.

Two Other "Outsiders" Already Discovered

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), 3I/ATLAS is the third known object from outside the solar system ever observed. Experts identified the first visitor in 2017 as the comet 1I/ʻOumuamua, a cigar-shaped object about 400 meters long, followed by 2I/Borisov in 2019. "Interstellar comets are true outsiders that hold clues to the formation of worlds far beyond our own," said the ESA, which is tracking the comet's path with telescopes in Hawaii, Chile, and Australia. The rather inconspicuous celestial object cannot be seen with the naked eye or a telescope. The distance is approximately 1.8 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.

The number "3" stands for the third comet of this kind, "I" for "Interstellar," and "Atlas" for the control program of the ATLAS telescope (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) in Río Hurtado (Chile), with which the comet was first discovered in July. The exact origin of the comet, which is several hundred meters to several kilometers in diameter, is unknown. According to the ESA, after its closest approach on December 19, it will soon disappear into the depths of space.

(APA/Red)

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