Florida. NASA’s latest land impact alert system discovered the third known interstellar object that crosses the solar system.
Initially called A11PL3Z and from the constellation of Sagittarius, it is estimated that it has about 20 kilometers in diameter, much larger than Oumuamua and Borisov, the two known interstellar objects.
In follow -up with telescopes from around the world, according to ESA, this object is currently 670 million kilometers from the sun and is directed at full speed into our system. It moves almost 68 kilometers per second and will pass near Mars and the Sun at the end of this year.
The Planet Center Minor of the International Astronomical Union has already cataloged the object as a comet, with the 3I/Atlas denomination, and could contain clues from another star system.
Pascal Lee, planetary scientist of the Seti Institute, commented on his X account that is already in Jupiter’s orbit. Its closest point to the Sun is scheduled on October 29 and its closest point to Earth will be on October 30 to 1.35 astronomical units, therefore, there is no risk of impact.
3I/Atlas should remain visible to terrestrial telescopes until September, after which it will pass too close to the sun to be observed. It is expected to reappear on the other side of the Sun in early December, which will allow new observations, according to NASA.
Its light curve has not yet been published, so there is still no information about its form or rotation.
The astrophysician Josep Trigo-Rodríguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, believes that it is an interstellar object based on its strange trajectory and extreme speed when crossing the solar system. It estimates that its size is approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) in diameter.
The first interstellar visitor confirmed was in 2017. nicknamed Oumuamuawhich means explorer in Hawaiian, in honor of the Observatory in Hawaii who discovered it. Initially classified as an asteroid, elongated Oumuamua He has since shown signs of being a kite.
The second object that deviated from another star system towards ours is 21/Borisov, discovered in 2019.