Comet 3I/Atlas, the third confirmed interstellar object entering the Solar System, continues attracting scientific focus through its exceptional characteristics. The ancient celestial body reached perihelion last week, maintaining a distance of 127 million miles (204 million kilometers) from the Sun, according to Agora CNN.
Emerson Roberto Perez, an astronomer at the Urânia Planetarium, told Agora CNN that the features generating the greatest interest include the object's extraordinary velocity – 38 miles per second (61 kilometers per second) – the highest speed ever documented for a comet. Scientists estimate its age between 5 to 7 billion years, older than the Solar System's formation 5 billion years ago. Its birthplace in the central region of the Milky Way gives it a different composition from comets formed within our system. "Its dense structure and distant origin offer a unique opportunity to study the formation of other planetary systems," Perez told Agora CNN.
December will deliver a historic moment when NASA's Clipper probe, traveling toward Jupiter's moon Europa, passes through the comet's tail. This encounter will enable the first-ever collection and analysis of interstellar material, Agora CNN reported.
The nearest point to Earth occurs December 19, when the comet reaches 1.8 astronomical units – approximately 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) from our planet. "Due to this distance, it won't be visible to the naked eye and will require professional equipment to observe," Roberto concluded, as reported by Agora CNN.
