US EditionA Rare Interstellar Object Is Blazing Through Our Solar System, Marking Only the Third Cosmic Visitor on Record
RÍO HURTADO, CHILE, JUL 7 – The European Space Agency advances the Comet Interceptor mission after detecting 3I/ATLAS, a 10-20 km wide interstellar object traveling over 60 km/s through the Solar System.
- Last week, the ATLAS telescope in Chile detected 3I/ATLAS, an estimated 10–20 km wide interstellar object traveling over 60 km/s.
- The ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission was adopted in June 2022, passed its Critical Design Review in December 2024, and is scheduled for a 2029 launch to study interstellar visitors like 3I/ATLAS.
- Data confirm 3I/ATLAS is about 20 km wide, larger than predecessors, traveling over 60 km/s, confirming its interstellar origin.
- ESA’s astronomers track 3I/ATLAS within Jupiter’s orbit, offering a rare opportunity to study a large, non-threatening interstellar object.
- Beyond discovery, ESA’s Comet Interceptor aims to study interstellar objects, offering insights into planet formation and the chemical makeup of distant solar systems.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Only two visitors from the depths of space had discovered astronomers in the solar system, comet 3I/Atlas is number three – and in many ways different.
Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of a new interstellar comet - from another stellar system than ours. It was detected on 1 July 2025 by the ATLAS telescope network in Chile and is only the third of its kind.
Last Friday, astronomers boasted a Czech photograph, i.e. a domestically created image, of an interstellar object with the provisional designation A11pl3Z. The resulting photo was taken on the night of July 2-3 at the observatory of the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Ondřejov. We also now know that the object in question is a comet.
Astronomy: For the third time, astronomers have observed a sail rock from interstellar space in the solar system. Astronomers have…
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