New photos reveal growing ‘tail’ of alien comet 3I/ATLAS at it barrels closer to Earth and the sun
A new image of breathtaking telescope revealed the growing tail of the interstellar comet 3i / Atlas. The luminous limb begins to take shape as the icy ordinate zoom more and more the sun On his one -way trip to the solar system.
3i / Atlas is a Comet about 7 miles wide (11 kilometers) it was First spotted in early July And zooms in us beyond the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. Scientists quickly realized that the super fast object Is not from our cosmic district. Instead, it was probably ejected from a distant star in the Milky Way And now goes through us as it flies through the galaxy. We do not know exactly where the comet is from, but the initial results suggest that it is likely much older than the solar system.
On August 27, astronomers of the southern Gemini telescope in the Chilean Andes captured a new detailed photo of 3i / Atlas, revealing the clear look at the tail of the comet. This plume of ice and dust is removed from the comet by the solar wind, the flow of charged particles emanating from the sun. The tail begins only to appear now, because the frozen shell of the comet, or nucleus, absorbs more solar radiation, which makes it expel more particles from its icy surface. The tail will continue to grow as the comet approaches the sun in the coming months and will finally become several times wider than the comet itself.
The new photo also shows a blurred cloud of ice and dust surrounding the comet. This cloud, known as Coma, will continue to swell because the comet is still heated by the sun. This will allow the comet to reflect more light which makes it appear brighter in the night sky, although it does not become visible to the naked eye.
These classic cometary characteristics are also proof that 3i / Atlas is a natural object and not an extraterrestrial probe, which has been Controversial proposed by certain scientists With little or no support in support.
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3i / Atlas is the third – and probably the largest – an interstellar object never discovered. He follows the past observations of the mysterious object ‘Oumuamua in 2017, which was also poorly identified as a potential foreign spacecraftand Comet Borisov in 2019, which also grew up a superb tail.
The current extra resity entitled to the sun at more than 130,000 MPH (210,000 km / h) and will make a close approach to March Next month, allowing space vessels in orbit in March to better see the comet and its tail, the Sister Science site Space.com recently reported.
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3i / Atlas will reach the perihelion, its point closest to the sun, on October 29. But it will be on the other side of our star from the house, which means that we will lose sight of it during this period and may fail to see its tail at its maximum size. The comet will reach its minimum distance to the Earth in December, when it will be done at less than 170 million miles (275 million km) on our planet – about 700 times further than the land of the Moon – before starting its long journey from the solar system.
Astronomers are run to study the object as much as possible During the next year, to find out more about where it comes and how different star systems are formed and evolving. Recent observations of the James Webb space telescope indicates that 3i / Atlas A unusual levels of water and carbon dioxide compared to other known comets. Additional photos of the comet, including a Detailed disc of the Hubble space telescope and a Colorful image of the North Gemini telescope In Hawaii, also highlighted its composition.
Each new photo of the comet also acts as a permanent reminder of this rare cosmic encounter.
“While 3i / Atlas accelerates in the depths of the interstellar space, this [new] The image is both a scientific step and a source of wonder, ” Karen MeechAn astronomer from the University of Hawaii and part of the Gemini Observatories team, said in a statement. “This reminds us that our solar system is only part of a vast and dynamic galaxy – and that even the most ephemeral visitors can leave a lasting impact.”
