Since the last feature went to print, a star in spiral galaxy Caldwell 30 has gone supernova and I had hoped to be showing you images of that. Storm Floris had other plans though. Fortunately this event will last for weeks, or even months, and with a bit of luck with the weather, that will hopefully feature in the next In The Night Sky column.
By way of compensation, the cosmos decided to serve us up something just as good to talk about instead. The most popular question that has shown up in my inbox this month prompted me to go to print with the answer to this conundrum:Â “Stephen, are we going to be visited by aliens this November?”
Now a wee bit of background info before I answer that. Most of the comets and asteroids that show up as objects of interest for astronomers and observers are in orbit around our Sun. They are essentially part of our solar system. Every now and then something catches the eye of those watching the night sky because it stands out as being something unusual.
Stephen McAllister (Image: George Munro) On July 1, an object was flagged up by ATLAS (the Asteroid Terrestial-impact Last Alert System) in Rio Hurtado in Chile. It was approximately six miles across, elongated and moving at incredible speed.
Comets do travel faster as they get nearer the Sun, but this object is still relatively far away.
To give you an idea of the speeds we are talking about, think about the distance from Greenock to Ayr – roughly 60 kilometres. This thing is covering that distance every second. It is absolutely hauling the mail.
After a few more observations and calculations, scientists came to the conclusion that this wasn’t one of our own. What we have here is a stranger.: an interstellar visitor incoming from a very old and distant part of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
Now, interstellar visitors are very rare indeed. This will only be the third we have ever recorded, the other two being Oumuamua and Borisov, recorded in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Interstellar visitors tothe Milky Way are very rare. (Image: Stephen McAllister) I have had a look at the first few images of that were captured by the Hubble telescope fairly soon after it was discovered. They showed a small, fuzzy object with the start of what looks like a tail.
To my eye it looked like a comet, albeit an interstellar comet. As it gets nearer the sun, that tail will become more prominent as it starts to heat up.
It has been named 3I/ATLAS, and the astronomy community is also leaning towards our interstellar object being a comet.
I had the good fortune to share a slot on BBC Radio Scotland recently with the Astronomer Royal, Professor Catherine Heymans. She was also of the view that our visitor is a comet-like object, and a very, very old one at that. Maybe seven billion years old.
As a comparison, our own solar system is four billion years old.
When these old objects drift through our solar system, we get a chance to glimpse into the past and learn a bit more about the universe in its younger form. Think of it as a form of cosmic genealogy.
Comet 3I/Atlas is expected to be visible all the way through September. (Image: Contributed) The James Webb telescope is already gathering information on the exact composition of our comet. Comet 3I/Atlas will get steadily brighter and will be visible all the way through September, after which it will be too close to the sun to be observed. I am hopeful that I will have some photos of our interstellar visitor to show you after September.
So to my answer to the question ‘are we going to be visited by aliens?’.Â
The combination of an interstellar object, elongated, moving very fast and passing relatively close to Earth, stirred up quite a bit of speculation, and before the object was positively identified, the idea that this could be an interstellar ‘craft’ gained a tiny bit of traction.
The late mystic Baba Vanga predicted that we would be visited by aliens in 2025, and a few celebrities, including one retired spoon-bender by the name of Geller, seized on this – maybe as an opportunity to get back on TV.
The mystic Baba Vanga predicted Earth would be visited by aliens in 2025 (Image: Contributed) So the answer to the question is ‘no’. We are in no danger. This object isn’t on a course to intercept Earth, so even if our object was an alien spacecraft, they aren’t coming to see us.
Also, our alien visitors would deserve to be commended for building a spaceship disguised as a comet. Now that’s a cunning plan right enough.
Whilst writing this feature I was saddened to learn that Commander Jim Lovell, who flew on Apollo 8 and the famously ill fated Apollo 13 missions, had made his final journey, passing away on August 7 at the age of 97.
Jim Lovell died on August 7 at the age of 97. (Image: Contributed)
There are now only six surviving Apollo astronauts left.
People that have stared death square in the eye, yet had the composure and resolve to walk away alive, deserve a special kind of admiration and respect.
Commander Lovell was one of those people, and I would like to respectfully dedicate this feature to him, his memory and his enduring legacy. Godspeed, Commander Lovell.
 Until next time, clear skies folks!