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3I\/ATLAS was officially discovered in early July, but it had already been in our skies, hiding in plain sight. It was simply too faint to notice.<\/p>\n
Researchers dug through images from NASA\u2019s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and found that the object had actually appeared as early as May.<\/p>\n
The experts looked at a part of the sky where the planets<\/a> of our solar system orbit. That just happened to be the path 3I\/ATLAS took on its journey through.<\/p>\n The team used a clever trick. They filtered out the glow from nearby stars<\/a>, then stacked multiple images from different moments to sharpen the view. That\u2019s how they spotted 3I\/ATLAS with a surprising level of clarity.<\/p>\n Clues to alien chemistry<\/p>\n The early signs of activity were unexpected. Normally, comets<\/a> only start to release gas and dust as they get close to the Sun. That\u2019s what forms the glowing tail we see. <\/p>\n But 3I\/ATLAS began showing activity much farther out \u2013 well before it came anywhere near the Sun\u2019s heat.<\/p>\n This tells scientists that the interstellar object isn\u2019t behaving like comets in our solar system. It\u2019s likely made of different materials, such as carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide. <\/p>\n These substances can evaporate at lower temperatures than water. The discovery gives scientists new insight into how other solar systems might work.<\/p>\n Studying 3I\/ATLAS before it disappears<\/p>\n Since it was found, astronomers across the globe have rushed to gather data on the object before it slips away for good. It will only be visible for a few more months before it\u2019s out of reach \u2013 even for the most powerful telescopes on Earth.<\/p>\n The research was led by scientists at Michigan State University<\/a>. They published their first paper about 3I\/ATLAS just days after it was discovered.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so few interstellar objects<\/a> that we\u2019ve detected in our solar system, and they each seem to be unique,\u201d said Adina Feinstein, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy. \u201c3I\/ATLAS gives us an opportunity to study other solar systems up close and personal, without actually needing to visit them.\u201d<\/p>\n Feinstein normally uses TESS data to search for exoplanets \u2013 planets that orbit stars far away. \u201cAs soon as I realized 3I\/ATLAS should be in these TESS images, I downloaded them as quickly as I could,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n What makes this interstellar comet different<\/p>\n The object\u2019s full name \u2013 3I\/ATLAS \u2013 comes from two things. The \u201c3I\u201d means it\u2019s the third known interstellar object. The \u201cATLAS\u201d part refers to the telescope network that spotted it \u2013 NASA\u2019s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System.<\/p>\n The more scientists studied the comet, the more unusual it seemed. It showed early signs of activity that point to a different chemical makeup than we\u2019re used to seeing.<\/p>\n \u201cThat gives us an idea of what comets and asteroids<\/a> could be made of in systems beyond our own Sun,\u201d Feinstein said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been assumed that other systems are different from ours, but now we have evidence of how different they might be.\u201d<\/p>\n John Noonan, a postdoctoral fellow at Auburn University, said it\u2019s crucial to find telescope images from before the comet was officially spotted.<\/p>\n \u201cCapturing as many observations from this prediscovery period, where 3I\/ATLAS may be in telescope images but wasn\u2019t previously identified, is essential to our understanding of how these objects \u2018turn on\u2019 as they approach our Sun,\u201d said Noonan.<\/p>\n \u201cThese interstellar objects have likely not been warmed significantly in millions \u2013 if not billions \u2013 of years, and any opportunity to see how they responded to that early heating is of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Searching for cosmic answers<\/p>\n The team plans to keep studying 3I\/ATLAS as long as it\u2019s visible. They\u2019re using every tool they can \u2013 including NASA\u2019s powerful James Webb Space Telescope \u2013 to figure out exactly what it\u2019s made of and how it behaves.<\/p>\n In fact, astrophysicists across the world are working quickly to observe the comet and publish new findings.<\/p>\n The research also shows how missions like TESS<\/a> \u2013 originally meant for studying stars and planets \u2013 can help answer bigger questions. Datasets from these missions are massive, and with the right approach, they can reveal surprises like this.<\/p>\n \u201cLearning about other solar systems places humanity into context,\u201d Feinstein said. \u201cOne of life\u2019s greatest questions is \u2018Are we alone in the universe?\u2019 Each NASA mission brings us a little bit closer to answering this big, overarching question.\u201d<\/p>\n The full study was published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image Credit: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA)<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Something strange and rare is passing through our solar system \u2013 a visitor from another star. It\u2019s not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-34620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}