Astronomers record the first close -up photo of the new interstellar visitor

It is not of this world. Or more precisely this solar system.

On July 1, astronomers discovered an object near the Jupiter orbit, which was a bit strange. It had a strange orbit that did not take them around the sun like most asteroids or comets.

Finally, it was confirmed that this object – called 3i/Atlas or C/2025 N1 (Atlas) – was an interlocking visitor.

Now astronomers have recorded the first detailed picture of this cosmic intruder.

“We look forward to a variety of new data and insights, since this object warms up in sunlight before continuing its cold, dark journey between the stars,” said Martin Still, NSF program director of the International Gemini Observatory.

The comet will continue to be visible in large telescopes until September, according to which it is lost in the glare of the sun.

Find out more about the comet

“Since this is only our third interstellar visitor who has ever been discovered, we are happy to learn about this completely new class of objects,” Paul Wiegert, astronomy professor at Western University, told CBC News in an e -mail.

Astronomers like to study comets and asteroids because they remain from the earliest formation of our solar system and can show how the conditions were at this time. To be able to study something outside of our neighborhood can possibly convey more knowledge about other star systems.

Current observations suggest that the comet has about 20 kilometers in diameter and far larger than the two previous interstellar Comets astronomers that were observed by our solar system.

The first comet was' Oumuamua, which had a massive diameter of 200 meters. The second was 2i/Borisov, one kilometer in diameter.

The fact that 3I/Atlas is so big is a blessing for astronomers: it makes learning easier, especially if it approaches the earth. It will be a precise approach in December, but it will not be a threat.

A study recently presented by the author Matthew Hopkins at the national astronomy meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society 2025 in Durham, England, shows that this new visitors may be the oldest comet that has ever been seen.

He estimates that the origin comes from part of our galaxy, in which old stars are native, and says that it could be seven billion years old, far older than the 4.5 billion years of our galaxy.

And this new visitor drills: When he was discovered, he was on the road at around 61 kilometers per second.

How do you know that it is not from our neighborhood

Astronomers can determine the origin of comets or asteroids based on the eccentricity of their orbits or the way in which the path has expanded.

An eccentricity of 0 means that it is a perfectly circular orbit. An eccentricity that is larger than one means that the orbit does not circles the sun and the higher the value, the more orbit.

In 3i/Atlas' case, his orbit is 6.2, astronomers knew that it came from beyond the solar system. For comparison, Oumuamua had an eccentricity of 1.2 and 2i/Borisov's eccentricity.

At the moment, this new comet is still in the Jupiter orbit, around 465 million kilometers from Earth. His planet will be closest to around 270 million kilometers on December 19.

On October 30, its wardrobe will reach the sun at a distance of 210 million kilometers, which are only located in the Mars orbit.

Although astronomers have quickly learned some things about this latest intruder, they hope to learn more over time.

“This seems to be like a comet from our own solar system. [is] In the light of our sun, turn gently to the steam. This makes 3i/atlas look blurred with a tail that is visible in the picture, ”said Wiegert.

“But we really don't know whether it is like one of our comets (the atomic component is from the earth and planet) or something completely different.”