[ad_1]
A mysterious interstellar comet recently entered our solar system and passed by the red planet – Mars. This amazing scene was captured by the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express spacecraft. This is the third celestial body that has been confirmed to enter our solar system.
Stunning images released by ESA, taken by the Mars Orbiter 30 million kilometers away, show the comet named 3I/ATLAS as a bright dot covered in a glowing cloud of dust and gas, crossing vast expanses of space. Composed of a solid core of ice, rock and dust, comet 3I/ATLAS was first detected in July.
Since then, this celestial body has been a subject of interest among astronomers and space lovers. “Comet 3I/ATLAS is a slightly faint white dot moving downwards near the middle of the image. Despite not being designed to capture something so distant, ExoMars TGO revealed a coma of gas and dust surrounding the icy-rocky nucleus,” ESA said in a press release on October 7.
3I/ATLAS closest point to the Sun during flyby
According to astronomers, the comet will pass through the inner solar system in the coming weeks and will reach its closest point to the Sun during its flight on or around October 30. According to the space agency, the interstellar object will be visible again on the other side of the Sun as early as December 2025.
“Every planet, moon, asteroid, comet and lifeform in our solar system shares a common origin,” ESA said in a statement. According to ESA, interstellar comets are exoplanets that hold clues about the formation of worlds beyond ours.
Will Comet 3I/ATLAS come close to Earth?
NASA scientists studying its activities say that there is no threat to the Earth from this celestial body. “It will be at its closest to our planet at a distance of 1.8 astronomical units (about 170 million miles or 270 million kilometers),” NASA said.
Notably, the instruments on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter were designed to click pictures of the surface of Mars and not of distant objects located millions of miles away, said Nick Thomas, principal investigator of the spacecraft’s imaging system.
“This was a very challenging observation for the instrument,” said Nick Thomas, adding that the comet is about 10,000 to 100,000 times lighter than our usual targets. nbc Informed.
[ad_2]
