Here comes the comet.
Experts — and what feels like the world — have been closely monitoring the Manhattan-sized comet, 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever to visit our solar system, for some time now.
Now, curious viewers will soon be able to tune in to witness detailed telescopic views of this interstellar object moving away from the Sun.
Beginning tonight at 11:15 p.m. ET, the Virtual Telescope Project’s YouTube livestream will feature a real-time view of the massive comet that will be above the eastern horizon, travelling through the stars of the constellation Virgo, according to Space.com.
Tonight at 11:15 pm ET, curious viewers can tune in. NASA
A series of telescopes will be set up by the organization in Manciano, Italy, to give people all over the world a glimpse of this much-talked-about comet, since its brightness is too dim (+10.9) to be seen with just the naked eye, the outlet said.
This viewing event is coming off the heels of the news that NASA will soon be releasing the highest resolution of any image of 3I/ATLAS yet taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera within days, an agency source told The Post.
The photos were supposedly taken in the very beginning of October, but they haven’t been released yet due to the government shutdown, which thankfully ended last week.
“Science should have been prioritized over bureaucracy,” Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb told The Post. “The truth about the nature of 3I/ATLAS will be revealed by the sharing of data, not by the storyline of gatekeepers.”
When the comet approached the Sun last month, many believed it could be an extraterrestrial spacecraft. AP
It’s been four months since the controversial 31/ATLAS was first discovered and there have been several different theories of what this looming comet could be.
Last month, when it was supposed to reach its closest approach to the Sun, the comet flew suspiciously close to Jupiter, Venus and Mars, which led some to believe it could be an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
One of those believers was Elon Musk, who believed a comet of this size could “obliterate a continent…maybe worse.”
“It’s a real problem if it hits,” Rogan said to a nodding Musk, “Probably kill most of human life.”