Tag Archives: invader

New research investigates the possibility that different spacecraft could visit Comet 3I/ATLAS, giving scientists a unique on-location view of the interstellar visitor, or even offering the chance to collect material that could be much older than the bodies of our solar system. Discovered on July 1 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System), 3I/ATLAS is just the third-ever object …

A team of scientists has found the recently discovered “interstellar invader” comet 3I/ATLAS is teeming with water ice. This water could have been sealed in the comet for 7 billion years, which would make it older than the solar system itself. The team also found a mixture of organic molecules, silicates and carbon based minerals on the object, meaning 3I/ATLAS …

The Hubble Space Telescope has caught its first glimpse of comet 3I/ATLAS. The comet is just the third object humanity has observed entering the solar system from beyond its limits. Prior to 3I/ATLAS, the previous two “interstellar invaders” were 1I/’Oumuamua, spotted in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, detected in 2019. Both have now left the solar system, though other interstellar bodies are …