Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was at its closest point to the sun on October 29, according to Professor Jason Wright at Pennsylvania State University.
“3I/ATLAS—which is only the third known interstellar object ever recorded—was detected on July 1 by NASA‘s ATLAS telescope in Chile,” according to Newsweek.
There has been a recent discovery that the comet is emitting a certain substance into the sun while also orbiting it like one of our planets.
“The SPHEREx and Webb observations detected carbon dioxide, water, carbon monoxide, carbonyl sulphide and water ice releasing from the comet as it neared the sun, according to the ESA,” CNN News stated.
When the Comet was first spotted, no one knew what it was, but as the days continued, the image became more clear.
“At the time, it was located about 670 million kilometers from Earth. NASA determined it ‘poses no threat to Earth,” according to Newsweek.
The comet is supposedly harmless to Earth, but scientists’ knowledge is limited.
“All observations are in agreement with basic assumptions about a space-weathered natural object with, so far, weak cometary activity,” Theoretical Physicist Professor Avi Loeb of Harvard University said.
Although many people have different theories, including aliens or martians, there is much activity from 3I/ATLAS that suggests it’s simply a comet.
“Clear-cut evidence of cometary activity–it was and still is behaving entirely in line with solar system comets at large distances,” according to Professor Darryl Seligman at Michigan State University.
Comets like 3L/ATLAS need to be observed frequently to understand their patterns and new developments, especially abnormalities.
“These [abnormalities of the comet are] 3I/ATLAS is significantly larger than both previous interstellar comets found, while moving faster; the fact that it will be [unobservable from Earth] at the point where it is closest to the Sun; the gas plume around 3I/ATLAS contains much more nickel than iron…,” according to Newsweek.
As more is being determined, like gas plumes and water spewing from the comet’s tail, and the elements associated with 3I/ATLAS, like nickel, many wonder what’s being done in order to really know what’s going on with this interstellar comet.
“Astronomers around the world are collecting as much data as possible on the orbit and physical properties of the object and how these change in the course of it passing through our solar system,” Richard Moissl, Head of Planetary Defense at the European Space Agency, explained.
As scientists search for a breakthrough, hopefully they can give everyone some insight into what we’re dealing with and what to expect as the comet keeps being monitored.
“We’ve got several more months to observe it,” Seligman said.