CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A a lost comet from another star This week it will fly past Earth for one last hurrah before hurtling back into interstellar space.
Discovered in summer, the comet known as 3I/Atlas will pass within 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) of our planet on Friday, its closest to its planet. Grand Tour Solar system.
NASA continues to point its space telescopes at the icy ball, which is estimated to be between 1,444 feet (440 meters) and 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) in size. But it dims as it emerges, so now is the time for astronomers to catch it in the night sky with their telescopes.
The comet will come much closer to Jupiter in March, passing within 33 million miles (53 million kilometers). “It will be in the mid-2030s before it reaches interstellar space and never returns,” said Paul Chodas, director of NASA's Near-Earth Object Research Center.
This is the third known interstellar object to cut through our solar system. Interstellar comets such as 3I/Atlas originate in star systems elsewhere in the Milky Way, and house comets such as Halley's comets originate from the icy outskirts of our solar system.
A telescope in Hawaii discovered the first confirmed interstellar visitor in 2017. Two years later, the interstellar comet was spotted by a Crimean amateur astronomer. NASA's Atlas Sky Survey Telescope in Chile spotted Comet 3I/Atlas in July while searching for potentially hazardous asteroids.
Scientists believe the latest crossing comet, also harmless, may have originated in a star system much older than ours, making it an attractive target.
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