NASA Telescope Spots A Rare Interstellar Visitor Speeding Through Our Solar System

Our cosmic home, the solar system, contains incredible planets and magnificent celestial objects, all held together with the Sun's gravitational embrace. But, from outside the celestial boundaries of this system, an interstellar comet moving at a speed of over 40 miles per second has reportedly pierced its borders, and it's now here in our solar system. NASA's telescope has discovered it, and NASA scientists have shared some interesting details about this celestial visitor.

NASA scientists have specified that it is coming from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, and its distance from the Earth is about 420 million miles. This cosmic body, strolling through our solar system in a hyperbolic trajectory, now has a name: 3I/ATLAS. NASA scientists have published a diagrammatic illustration of the comet's trajectory, which is shown below.

The first time NASA Scientists had a glimpse of 3I/ATLAS was around July 1, and the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile was instrumental to this discovery. Since June 14, however, pre-discovery observations of 3I/ATLAS have been made in archival records by three ATLAS telescopes installed in different parts of the world.

Just as we are concerned about the likelihood of Asteroid 2024 YR4 smashing into our moon and even our Earthly home, do we need to be concerned about 3I/ATLAS causing a disaster on Earth? Well, NASA scientists say we can rest assured that 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to the Earth, and the reason is stated: the closest 3I/ATLAS can ever be to the Earth is about 150 million miles, which is quite a great distance from the Earth.

While it remains in its hyperbolic trajectory, NASA scientists will continue to gather further information about 3I/ATLAS to understand details about its physical attributes and possible collision with celestial bodies. NASA says 3I/ATLAS will remain visible to ground telescopes until September, so there is enough time for further studies.