Rare interstellar object, 3I/Atlas, zooms through solar system
NASA just spotted a rare visitor—comet 3I/ATLAS—set to zip through our solar system. It's only the third time we've confirmed an interstellar object like this passing by.
Traveling at about 60km per second and not bound to the Sun, it's truly a cosmic traveler.
Comet 3I/ATLAS will pass inside Mars's orbit in late October
3I/ATLAS will pass just inside Mars's orbit in late October, keeping a safe distance from all planets (so no worries about collisions).
The comet is pretty big—about 10-20km wide—with a faint icy tail. It'll get brighter as it nears the Sun and should stay visible through telescopes until next year, but for now, only skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere have a shot at spotting it.
This could be the biggest interstellar comet we've ever seen
Following 'Oumuamua and Borisov, this could be the biggest interstellar comet we've ever seen.
Scientists think thousands of these objects sneak through our solar system undetected every year.
With new observatories like Vera C. Rubin coming online soon, we'll get better at spotting them—but for now, sending spacecraft to chase one down isn't possible because they're just too fast and unpredictable.