Yet another reminder that God's creation is unfathomably vast and the universe is a massive place with many things in it:
Here's a video showing it's path through our neighborhood:
Via 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.
Just as a reminder, when astronomers say that a comet "originated from interstellar space," and you want to know "Where did it come from?" the answer is invariably:
There's a lot of space in outer space! Here, for example, is what NASA describes as "part of the sky in the constellation of Sagittarius," where this comet apparently originated from:
I'm not sure we're gonna narrow it down!
Thankfully, we don't have to worry about this sucker pulling a Deep Impact (or Armageddon, if you prefer that one):
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). ... 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.
For space enthusiasts, meanwhile, the object "should remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September," and then "reappear on the other side of the Sun by early December, allowing for renewed observations."
It's always nice to get interstellar visitors in the neighborhood!
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
