Cambridge, MA – A giant icy traveler from beyond the stars has entered our Solar System — and scientists are calling it the biggest interstellar object of its kind ever spotted.
Nicknamed 3I/Atlas, this mysterious space visitor is only the third interstellar object humanity has ever seen. Unlike anything that formed around our Sun, it’s zooming in from deep space at jaw-dropping speeds of over 130,000 mph — fast enough to break free from the Sun’s gravity and keep on flying.
According to the European Space Agency, the object won’t hit Earth or any of our neighboring planets. Instead, it’s expected to sweep just inside Mars’s orbit before continuing its cosmic road trip. Astronomers say it’s moving so fast and on such a strange path that there’s no question — this thing came from another star system.
Discovered Tuesday by the NASA-backed ATLAS sky survey in Hawaii, the comet started out with the temporary label A11pl3Z until scientists confirmed its alien origin. Now officially named 3I/Atlas, it’s believed to be mostly made of ice, not rock — the telltale sign of a comet.
Experts say comets like this may form in distant star systems before being flung into space, possibly by the gravity of nearby stars. Most wander undetected, but this one just happened to cruise by us — giving Earth a rare glimpse of the kind of icy giant that might be drifting between the stars.
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