Another Interstellar "Visitor" -- This Time, A Comet -- Will Pass Us, Just Outside The Orbit Of Mars, Late This Summer...

Many here will recall the spotting of Oumuamua -- a first, for actual, visual detection of interstellar objects whizzing by -- about five years ago. It was thought to be a rocky asteroid.

This time, we are directly observing a dirty ice ball, or comet -- that has crossed the intersteller medium, over likely millions of years, to blow through here -- like a teenager, driving their dad's Alfa-Romeo Spider Velocé. Heh. Here's the latest, from NASA:

. . .On July 1, the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, first reported observations of a comet that originated from interstellar space. Arriving from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, the interstellar comet has been officially named 3I/ATLAS. It is currently located about 420 million miles (670 million kilometers) away.

Since that first report, observations from before the discovery have been gathered from the archives of three different ATLAS telescopes around the world and the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California. These “pre-discovery” observations extend back to June 14. Numerous telescopes have reported additional observations since the object was first reported.

The comet poses no threat to Earth and will remain at a distance of at least 1.6 astronomical units (about 150 million miles or 240 million km). It is currently about 4.5 au (about 416 million miles or 670 million km) from the Sun. 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest approach to the Sun around Oct. 30, at a distance of 1.4 au (about 130 million miles or 210 million km) — just inside the orbit of Mars. . . .

This is a new epoch in telescope science -- directly observing objects not much bigger than a Wal-Mart, hundred of millions of miles out in space. Wow! Onward -- and do have a peaceful, quiet Fourth, one and all.

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