‘From another world’: 3I/ATLAS photobombs a galaxy and shows off its multiple tails in stunning new image
An astrophotographer took a stunning photo of the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS photobombing a distant galaxy in the night sky. The remarkable image, which also captures the comet’s multiple tails, is a reminder of the object’s supernatural nature – but that doesn’t mean it was made by extraterrestrials, the photographer insists.
Satoru Murata, a New Mexico-based photographer who has previously worked on several astronomical research projects, captured the new image using a 0.2 meter (0.7 foot) telescope on Sunday, November 16, shortly before sunrise. It shows a familiar green glow coming from the coma of 3I/ATLAS, with the the long ion tail of the comet and the re-emergence of its shorter anti-tailwhich is probably due to excess dust blown onto its surface. In recent weeks, the comet appeared briefly lose these two tailsalthough this is an optical illusion due to its position relative to Earth.
At the top left of the image is the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4691, located about 70 million light years from Earth. Seeing the interstellar comet alongside NGC 4691 “really made the object seem like it was from another world,” Murata wrote in a recent paper. Facebook post. (However, the comet came from a star system in the Milky Way, not another galaxy.)
While this new photo gives us an impressive look at 3I/ATLAS, astronomers are eagerly awaiting new high-definition photos from NASA of the comet, which will be published Wednesday (November 19). These images were captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter during the comet’s close flyby of the Red Planet on October 3, but remained unpublished due to the recent government shutdown.
Friday November 14, the European Space Agency revealed that his own photos of Mars helped the researchers refine the planned trajectory of 3I/ATLAS across the solar system.
Interstellar Visitor
3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object discovered to date and was first spotted in early Julyshooting toward the sun at more than 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h). It is probable comes from the “border” region of the Milky Way and could be up to 7 billion years agowhich makes it significantly older than our solar system.
The comet recently reappeared from behind the hidden side of the sun relative to Earth, where it reached its closest point to our home star on October 29. The journey around the sun has been eventful, with 3I/ATLAS having experienced a unexpected lightening event and a temporary color change. The comet has also shown several other anomalous features in recent months, including a heavily irradiated surface and a overabundance of certain chemicals.
These unusual features have led some researchers to controversially propose that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spaceship in disguise. However, the majority of the astronomical community agrees that the object is almost certainly a comet. (Similar allegations were also made about the first interstellar object ‘Oumuamua, which was discovered in 2017 and is most likely an asteroid.)
Murata is also certain of the cometary status of 3I/ATLAS.
“No, it is not an alien mothership, and the probability that it is any type of object created by an extraterrestrial civilization is close to zero,” he wrote in a statement. Instagram post about the new photo. “As they say, if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck, it’s a duck.”
3I/ATLAS will reach its closest point to Earth on December 19, when it will reach a minimum distance of 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) from our planet.
