Mars spacecraft observes this interstellar comet – and no, it’s not an alien spacecraft
An alien visitor passing through our solar system made its C.The most lost viewpoint on Mars earlier this month, and two European robotic spacecraft orbiting the red planet TurNeed to take a look.
3I/ATLAS is actually an alien visitor, arriving from another solar system somewhere in the galaxy. It is a comet that was probably thrown away from its home star due to a close encounter with a giant planet like Jupiter.
It then traveled for billions of years in interstellar space, being pulled into our solar system by our Sun’s gravity, and now passing through before continuing on its journey, never to return.
In fact, its trajectory suggests it may be the oldest The comet discovered so far, potentially making it even older than our 4.6 billion year old solar system.
The object will not come dangerously close to Earth, but it passed within 30 million kilometers of Mars on October 3. Two robots from the European Space Agency that are currently in orbit around Mars, exomars And Mars Express3I/ATLAS were in the best position to capture images and a fuzzy ball was detected – Known as Koma – with short tail.
This suggests that the object is like a comet with ice and dust emanating from it.They are heated by the sun.
Further analysis after closest approach to the Sun on October 30 should determine what those ices are made of and whether they are similar to the icy comets we see orbiting our Sun.
Look NASA spacecraft observe interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it approaches Mars:
This is the third time an interstellar object has been observed passing through our solar system 1i/Oumuamua in 2017 and 2i/Borisov In 2019.
Every time the arrival of an alien object is announced, there is speculation that these may be alien spacecraft that are either passing through us with no interest in us, or are here to deliver some kind of message.
The idea partly stems from a 1973 science fiction novel meeting ram by Arthur C. Clarke, which describes the adventures of astronauts who catch a giant alien spacecraft on a similar trajectory in order to find out what or who is inside.
So far, despite what ssome people on tIt is being said on the Internet that there is no indication that 3I/ATLAS is a spacecraft. It doesn’t reflect light like a metal object, it doesn’t emit any signals, and a spacecraft won’t leave huge clouds of ice and dust (unless it’s trying to hide itself).
Of course, it would be more interesting if the object were an alien spacecraft, but it is still worth studying it as much as possible during the short time it has been around us.
These interstellar objects are like free missions to the stars, where we can find out whether the same processes that formed our solar system occur in the Milky Way.
To get an even closer look, the European Space Agency is planning a Comet Interceptor Objective In 2029 it will try to get close to an as-yet-unknown interstellar visitor Which comes from a place far, far away and a long time ago.