NASA: Fastest interstellar object ever recorded just zipped past us
NASA has confirmed that a mysterious comet from another star system—called 3I/ATLAS—entered our solar system on July 1.
What's wild is how fast it's moving: about 209214km per hour, making it the fastest interstellar object ever recorded!
Scientists say it picked up this speed thanks to billions of years of "gravitational slingshots" with stars, planets, and nebulae as it traveled across space.
Comet's core is older than our solar system
Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, we know 3I/ATLAS is made of ice, frozen gasses, and dust.
Its core was first thought to be up to seven miles wide, but new data puts its size somewhere between 5.63km and just 1,000 feet across.
Even so, it's still the largest interstellar object scientists have found so far—and at roughly eight billion years old, it's even older than our entire solar system!
The good news: NASA says there's no risk to Earth since the comet will stay on the far side of the Sun during its closest approach.