Zürcher Nachrichten - Third-ever confirmed interstellar object blazing through Solar System

EUR -
AED 4.313393
AFN 81.129971
ALL 98.000268
AMD 450.91819
ANG 2.101746
AOA 1076.885868
ARS 1474.349145
AUD 1.793323
AWG 2.116779
AZN 1.996831
BAM 1.962815
BBD 2.371175
BDT 142.976759
BGN 1.953361
BHD 0.442718
BIF 3449.087484
BMD 1.174357
BND 1.505481
BOB 8.115004
BRL 6.540117
BSD 1.174397
BTN 101.413467
BWP 16.370511
BYN 3.843337
BYR 23017.403706
BZD 2.359032
CAD 1.598447
CDF 3389.195136
CHF 0.931406
CLF 0.029154
CLP 1118.786468
CNY 8.427181
CNH 8.420007
COP 4783.263105
CRC 592.317031
CUC 1.174357
CUP 31.120469
CVE 110.657208
CZK 24.613594
DJF 208.706971
DKK 7.465278
DOP 70.883348
DZD 152.372675
EGP 57.630058
ERN 17.61536
ETB 162.921707
FJD 2.636669
FKP 0.870122
GBP 0.868572
GEL 3.182684
GGP 0.870122
GHS 12.242757
GIP 0.870122
GMD 83.972707
GNF 10189.113773
GTQ 9.013215
GYD 245.698163
HKD 9.218629
HNL 30.735855
HRK 7.533033
HTG 154.110816
HUF 398.955047
IDR 19102.918412
ILS 3.934038
IMP 0.870122
INR 101.407519
IQD 1538.39847
IRR 49455.124433
ISK 142.414016
JEP 0.870122
JMD 188.323095
JOD 0.832612
JPY 172.144932
KES 151.726929
KGS 102.697477
KHR 4706.822902
KMF 495.578367
KPW 1056.958009
KRW 1621.946011
KWD 0.35832
KYD 0.978698
KZT 626.609598
LAK 25327.524429
LBP 105224.889781
LKR 354.248597
LRD 235.461576
LSL 20.674393
LTL 3.467571
LVL 0.710357
LYD 6.362551
MAD 10.5802
MDL 19.917187
MGA 5198.580518
MKD 61.778966
MMK 2464.920876
MNT 4215.09541
MOP 9.49584
MRU 46.611597
MUR 53.421477
MVR 18.079358
MWK 2036.378326
MXN 21.898887
MYR 4.969295
MZN 75.111132
NAD 20.674393
NGN 1797.377536
NIO 43.213163
NOK 11.836218
NPR 162.261949
NZD 1.958388
OMR 0.451539
PAB 1.174397
PEN 4.181521
PGK 4.936497
PHP 66.784554
PKR 334.663213
PLN 4.250727
PYG 8930.65335
QAR 4.281676
RON 5.069
RSD 117.151532
RUB 92.190611
RWF 1697.567364
SAR 4.405364
SBD 9.729662
SCR 16.598934
SDG 705.201506
SEK 11.177004
SGD 1.501422
SHP 0.92286
SLE 27.010422
SLL 24625.690707
SOS 671.198967
SRD 43.020819
STD 24306.825753
STN 24.587881
SVC 10.27542
SYP 15268.827062
SZL 20.680917
THB 37.778825
TJS 11.274095
TMT 4.121994
TND 3.439293
TOP 2.750461
TRY 47.463062
TTD 7.975506
TWD 34.521338
TZS 3065.073334
UAH 49.057979
UGX 4214.061698
USD 1.174357
UYU 47.419484
UZS 14800.900673
VES 137.358704
VND 30703.572444
VUV 139.476948
WST 3.095763
XAF 658.3099
XAG 0.029976
XAU 0.000343
XCD 3.173759
XCG 2.116565
XDR 0.819535
XOF 658.29021
XPF 119.331742
YER 282.961661
ZAR 20.670392
ZMK 10570.61886
ZMW 27.158067
ZWL 378.142582
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Third-ever confirmed interstellar object blazing through Solar System
Third-ever confirmed interstellar object blazing through Solar System / Photo: David RANKIN - David Rankin, Saguaro Observatory/AFP

Third-ever confirmed interstellar object blazing through Solar System

Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through our Solar System -- only the third ever spotted, though scientists suspect many more may slip past unnoticed.

Text size:

The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, is likely the largest yet detected. It has been classified as a comet.

"The fact that we see some fuzziness suggests that it is mostly ice rather than mostly rock," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told AFP.

Originally known as A11pl3Z before it was confirmed to be of interstellar origin, the object poses no threat to Earth, said Richard Moissl, head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency.

"It will fly deep through the Solar System, passing just inside the orbit of Mars," but will not hit our neighboring planet, he told AFP.

Excited astronomers are still refining their calculations, but the object appears to be zooming more than 60 kilometres (37 miles) a second.

This would mean it is not bound by the Sun's orbit, unlike those asteroids and comets that remain within the solar system.

Its trajectory also "means it's not orbiting our star, but coming from interstellar space and flying off to there again," Moissl said.

"We think that probably these little ice balls get formed associated with star systems," added McDowell. "And then as another star passes by, tugs on the ice ball, frees it out. It goes rogue, wanders through the galaxy, and now this one is just passing us."

The NASA-funded ATLAS survey in Hawaii first discovered the object on Tuesday, US astronomer David Rankin wrote on the social media platform Bluesky.

Professional and amateur astronomers across the world then searched through past telescope data, tracing its trajectory back to at least June 14.

The object is currently estimated to be roughly 10-20 kilometers wide, Moissl said, which would make it the largest interstellar interloper ever detected. But the object could be smaller if it is made out of ice, which reflects more light.

"It will get brighter and closer to the Sun until late October and then still be observable (by telescope) until next year," Moissl said.

- Our third visitor -

This marks only the third time humanity has detected an object entering the solar system from the stars.

The first, 'Oumuamua, was discovered in 2017. It was so strange that at least one prominent scientist became convinced it was an alien vessel -- though this has since been dismissed by further research.

Our second interstellar visitor, 2I/Borisov, was spotted in 2019.

Mark Norris, an astronomer at the UK's University of Central Lancashire, told AFP that the new object appears to be "moving considerably faster than the other two extrasolar objects that we previously discovered."

The object is currently roughly around the distance from Jupiter away from Earth, Norris said.

He lamented that he would not be able to observe the object on his telescope on Wednesday night, because it is currently only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

Norris pointed to modelling estimating that there could be as many as 10,000 interstellar objects drifting through the Solar System at any given time, though most would be smaller than the newly discovered object.

If true, this suggests that the newly online Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile could soon be finding these dim interstellar visitors every month, Norris said.

Moissl said it is not feasible to send a mission into space to intercept the new object.

Still, these visitors offer scientists a rare chance to study something outside of our Solar System.

For example, if we detected precursors of life such as amino acids on such an object, it would give us "a lot more confidence that the conditions for life exist in other star systems," Norris said.

R.Bernasconi--NZN