A European Mars survey witnessed the Red Planet’s flyby of interstellar comet 3i/Atlas last week.
On October 3, 3i / Atlas zoomed to within 12 million miles (30 million miles) of Mars. THE European Space AgencyThe Trace Gas Orbiter (ESA) (TGO) was ready for the close-up, snapping imaging of the ordinate using its Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System (Cassis).
“This was a very difficult observation for the instrument,” Cassis principal investigator Nick Thomas said in a statement Released by ESA on Tuesday October 7). “THE comet is about 10,000 to 100,000 times lower than our usual target. “
Comet 3i/Atlas was discovered last July by the Earth-Impact Last Warning System (Atlas) Asteroid Telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile. The “3i” in its name indicates that it is only the third confirmed interstellar object observed in our solar systemAfter 1i / ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and 2i / borisov in 2019.
Astronomers want to learn as much as they can about these visitors, who carry with them information about distant and mysterious realms.
“Every planet, moon, asteroid“The comet and life form in our solar system share a common origin,” ESA officials said in the statement. But interstellar comets are true aliens, carrying clues to the formation of worlds far beyond our own. “
In the case of 3i/Atlas, these clues suggest an ancient and exotic origin: astronomers believe it is the The oldest comet ever observedwith a birth that predates that of our own solar system by perhaps three billion years.
The observations made by TGO – which reached March In 2016 to sniff out methane and other trace gases in its atmosphere – were part of a concerted ESA campaign to study 3i/Atlas as it passed through the solar system.
For example, the agency Mars Express Orbiter, which has been circling the Red Planet since 2003, also attempted to photograph the comet on October 3. “Scientists have not yet resolved 3i/Atlas in Mars Express Imagery, in part because these were taken with an exposure time of just 0.5 seconds (the maximum limit for Mars Express) compared to five seconds for EXOMARS TGO,” ESA officials said in the same statement.
“While our Mars orbiters continue to make impressive contributions to Mars Science, it is always very exciting to see them respond to unexpected situations like this,” said Colin Wilson, Mars Express and Exomars Project Scientist at ESA, in the same statement. “I can’t wait to see what the data reveals upon further analysis.”
Other spacecraft will also turn their eyes on the icy object in the coming months, including ESAs JUICE probe, which is on its way to Jupiter (its name is short for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer).
Juice will begin searching for 3i/Atlas on November 2, just three days after the comet makes its closest approach to the sun (which will occur at a distance of 130 million miles, or 210 million km).
3i/Atlas will likely be in a more active state at this point, giving Juice a real chance to resolve it, even if the Jupiter The probe will be further from the comet than ESA’s Mars probes on October 3.