Interstellar Comet 3L: NASA Atlas is Older Than Solar System
- Okay, here's a breakdown of the key facts from the provided text, suitable for a self-check, and formatted for clarity.
- * What it is: An interstellar comet - meaning it originated outside our solar system.
Okay, here’s a breakdown of the key facts from the provided text, suitable for a self-check, and formatted for clarity.
Comet 3I/ATLAS – Key Facts
* What it is: An interstellar comet – meaning it originated outside our solar system.
* Closest Approach: Made its closest approach to Earth on December 19th, at 168 million miles (270 million kilometers).
* Discovery: First detected on July 1, 2025, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
* Significance: Only the third interstellar object discovered passing through our solar system (the others were 1I/’Oumuamua in 2017 and comet 2I/Borisov in 2019).
* Scientific possibility: Provides a chance to study the building blocks of comets, asteroids, and planets from other star systems.
* Age & Origin: Likely originated from the “thick disk” of the Milky Way, a region older than our solar system. Estimated to be up to 7 billion years old.
* Composition: Water-rich.
* Future trajectory: Will move back into the outer solar system and eventually leave our solar system entirely.
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