Where Did The Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Come From?

September 11, 2025 Universe Today

Where Did The Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Come From?
By Evan Gough (https://ift.tt/iT51muv)

The Gemini South Observatory captured this image of the interstellar comet 3L/ATLAS on August 27th. It shows the object's fuzzy coma and tail, made of volatiles released by the Sun's heat. Image Credit: By International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist, CC BY 4.0

When an interstellar object (ISO) travels through our inner Solar System, the immediate question is "Where did it come from?" There are only fleeing opportunities to study these, since their trajectories take them out of the Solar System pretty quickly. A new research effort aims to understand where the most recent ISO, 3I/ATLAS, originated.

September 12, 2025 at 01:20AM
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